Heiress of Alkanphel
by riven-del
Summary: A teen girl too different to be pure human becomces the Supreme Zoalord's heiress and is hurled into a whirlwind of politics, dangerous games with her as a potential pawn, and secrets that could destroy Cronos...and possibly her. Guyver belongs to Takaya.
1. Chapter 1

She was alone again on the streets of Tokyo.

Rhia, a young teen girl with white hair and elfin elegance and appearance, strolled through the dark streets of the deserted part of the city. Her sapphire eyes showed no emotion as she made her way to the rich suburb part of Shinjuku. With her baggy, unadorned clothes, no one could tell she was of an aristocratic family. She always came back to the Honda mansion late at night when her stepfather was asleep or preoccupied with aristocratic guests. The driveway gates opened before she hit the button for someone to open it for her.

"About time," she heard her stepfather over the speakers. "Hurry it up and get in here!"

"Whatever," she replied coolly, noticing that there was someone in the parlor for the main light was on. She took one step in the front hall when her chubby stepfather grabbed her arm and yanked her into the parlor.

There was a guest, an aristocratic guest judging from his white suit and strange ornament on his jacket. He wore black leather gloves and shoes, and his white hair was slicked back revealing his pointed ears. Rhia took one look at his yellow eyes and knew he wasn't human at all. An aura of terrifying authority emitted from him and she felt as though she met him before.

"Well, here she is," her stepfather said nervously. "She's good enough to be your heiress, isn't she?" She shot him a look of absolute hate.

"So now Mom's dead you decide to sell me, you son of a-"

He slapped her to silence her.

_I have to agree with you_,' she heard the other man's thoughts, _he is worse than scum_.

_You have this ability too?_ she asked him through her thoughts.

"I'll take her under my wing," the man said, never taking his eyes off of her.

Several minutes later, when she had packed what little belongings she had in her old duffle bag, she was leaving with the man that had bought her. They walked out of sight of anyone that might have been watching their departure, and then they stopped.

"Hold onto my arm," he said and she obeyed. They went through a weird dimension and she found herself barely able to breathe. A metallic hall appeared around them and she gasped, finally able to breathe normally. "Not bad for your first time," he said and began to lead her down the hall.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"This is Cronos' Main Head Quarters," he gave her a smile. "Welcome to the Arizona Base."

"Are you one of the directors of Cronos?"

"Yes, I am. May I ask you a question?"

She nodded.

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"There aren't any Zoanoids powerful enough to teleport with a passenger across the world. The only logical explanation would be that you're a Zoalord."

"I see your mother educated you very well and you are correct on that as well, but it appears you need to be taught not to try to find out who a person is by prying into their minds."

Rhia recoiled her thoughts. So he had the exact same powers she herself did. Who is this guy?

"Will you at least tell me your name?" she asked.

"My name is Alkanphel," he replied and looked at her. "I am the head of the Council of Twelve, and you are my heiress."


	2. Chapter 2

Rhia followed Alkanphel through the Arizona Base.

She was beginning to regret staying out so late, her feet were sore from walking for so long. She felt some sort of pressure building up in her head as they continued down to the lower levels of the base. She could hear the thoughts of hundreds of Zoanoids and human scientists, and their thoughts were gradually intensifying.

"Rhia," she heard Alkanphel, "clear your mind. Think of the calmest place you've ever been to."

She focused her mind on the empty streets of Tokyo at night. Instantly the pressure that had built up in her head gradually faded away and she could hear only a whisper of thoughts from nearby scientists.

"Better?" he asked. She nodded then he grasped her shoulder and pulled her up to his side. "Why don't you walk with me so we can talk? There's nothing to be afraid of."

They got onto an elevator and only then did they talk.

"You're really pretty," he said, making her blush. "I guess you don't hear that at all?"

She nodded. "I get belittlement because I'm different."

"That explains a lot."

They fell silent again. She could sense his pity toward her and she clenched her hand into fists. She knew she was abnormal and she could never fit in or have any friends, and she didn't need to be reminded of that fact every single day. She didn't want to be reminded that she was alone.

"You're not alone."

"Hmm?" she realized that he was looking at her.

"You're not alone," he said. "You're unique, and the people that surrounded you could not understand it. Now, there are people that can understand your uniqueness, including me."

"Really?"

"Really and truly," he messed her a little. "Aren't your bangs bothering you? They're really long."

"I like my bangs the way they are," she said and shook her head. Her bangs were always in her face, but she didn't mind it. She liked the way it hid her face. He brushed aside the bangs on the right side of her face.

"Have it your way then," he said yet she sensed that he was surprised at something. He had caught a glimpse of her face and something about her caught him off guard. "Hand me your bag; I know you're tired."

She handed her bag to him, and his eyes widened in surprise of how light it was.

"Is this all of your possessions?"

"Honda didn't like the thought of me having what I wanted."

"You have been neglected, child."

She didn't say anything else and Alkanphel presumed that she didn't want to talk any more about herself.

"We're there," he said when the elevator stopped.

The elevator stopped and they got off into a near deserted hall with two wooden doors at the opposite side. Alkanphel led her to the doors and opened them.


	3. Chapter 3

Rhia would never have imagined a fancier place than the one she stood in right now. The only source of light was the giant hologram of Earth rotating over a giant circular table with display hologram projectors built into the reflective surface of the table. To be more precise about it, it was a giant holographic projector unto itself.

"Lord Alkanphel," a man said. "Is this the heiress you spoke of?"

She saw the man who was speaking to Alkanphel sitting in one of the twelve giant, stone thrones around the projector. He had dark brown, wavy long hair, pointed ears and dark eyes, and Rhia had to guess that he was half a head taller than Alkanphel. A small portion of his Zoacrystal was visible in the center of his forehead.

"Yes," Alkanphel replied, "this Rhiannon. Rhia, this is Sin Amniculus, one of the Twelve Zoalords."

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Rhiannon," Amniculus said. She sensed that he didn't care about her casual attire, and he was curious to know more about her.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Lord Amniculus," she replied politely. She bowed from the waist up, a custom that she was always expected to follow around the aristocrats. Then she saw Amniculus get up and return the gesture. She was correct about his height, and she also noticed that he was a well built man. _He's a really cool guy_, she thought and sensed that Alkanphel was amused.

"Well, what do you think of the base?" Amniculus asked Rhia.

"I'm impressed," she said. "Are all of Cronos' bases like this one?"

"They're not as big as this one, but they are just as impressive."

Alkanphel could tell she wasn't at all interested in the other bases around the world. She was more interested in the Zoalord in front of her. She was trying to understand why she was chosen to be the heir of the Supreme Commander of Cronos. She didn't know what was so special about her, and she didn't know that she would not find it in any of the other Zoalords. _All in due time, Rhia_, he thought. _All in due time..._

* * *

Amniculus knew that girl, Rhia, was different before Alkanphel introduced her as his heiress. He knew she wasn't all human, but there's no way she could be part Zoalord. Why did he still think about that even hours after Alkanphel left with the girl?

_I have to trust him_, he decided. _If I cannot trust him, then I cannot trust anyone._

* * *

"You said there were twelve Zoalords," Rhia said as she and Alkanphel walked through the Ararat mountain range in Turkey while dawn had yet to break. Her new violet clothes felt like a second layer of skin, her three pieces of armor on her forearms and abdomen reflected the little light there was in the mountain range, and her dark violet cape rippled in the air as she continued to follow her commander. "Will I meet the rest of them soon?"

"Yes, you will meet them very soon," he replied. "In fact, you'll be meeting them today."

"Out of pure curiosity: why did you introduce me to Lord Amniculus first? Would it not have been wiser for me to meet them all at once?"

"He's one of the most loyal Zoalords, and he's probably the only one to treat you so kindly. Some of the other Zoalords are against there being a female heir."

She didn't comment. She understood why they were against it. From what she gathered about the other Lords, they were all hundreds of years old, and they were all raised around old traditions. Some of them might be sexists, or they would just not feel comfortable around her until they got use to her position.

They came to a peak that overlooked the mountains when he said, "They're here."

One by one, the Council of Twelve appeared behind Rhia and Alkanphel. There were eleven at the moment, due to one betraying them. All of them were from different regions of the world. All ten Zoalords bowed to Alkanphel.

"The operation was an overwhelming success, Lord Alkanphel," Amniculus said and Alkanphel turned to face the ten Zoalords.

"From this day forth, the planet Earth will bow to the will of Cronos," Alkanphel said.

_It appears that I came into play just as they took over the world_, Rhia summarized. _So now the question becomes: What part do I have in all of this?_


	4. Chapter 4

For an entire year, Rhia followed Alkanphel across the world. She rarely spoke with the other Zoalords, and she rarely left Alkanphel's side for long. A good majority of the Council thought that she was growing fond of him, and they were correct.

She had to admit, she was attached to Alkanphel. He taught her what it meant to be a Zoalord and he was able to teach her to teleport, which took up a lot of her energy. He took her to various places around the world, showing her what was outside her island homeland. He was the only person that came close to being a father figure to Rhia, an honor rarely earned by anyone.

"Rhia, there's someone I want you to meet," he said to her several days after the first anniversary of Cronos' take over in the Arizona base.

"You found the new Twelfth Zoalord," she said and saw a tall man with long black, wavy hair, a dark visor, and dark Zoalord clothes. "Imakarum Mirabilis, once Masaki Murakami. I assume that the Guyvers are still alive?"

"Yes, they are," Mirabilis said. "I will be hunting down the Guyvers in Japan, if that is okay with you."

"So long as you do not destroy my city and endanger civilians, you may hunt the Guyvers in my homeland," she replied.

"With Zeus' Thunder and the Guyvers running around," Alkanphel said, "it would be best if you were to stay near a Zoalord at all times."

"Meaning I'll have to stay in a base until the situation is resolved," Rhia said. "I understand."

* * *

"I'm surprised of how mature she is," Mirabilis said when he and Lord Alkanphel were out of earshot of the young heiress.

"Her mother taught her well," Alkanphel agreed. "She still has much to learn, though, and there are still a few things that need to be remedied before her time comes to ascend to power."

"What might these things be, my Lord?"

"Damage her so called 'step-father' wrought upon her for a majority of her life. Some of it has been repaired or is slowly being repaired, but I don't know the extent of the abuse she endured. Several of the Zoalords have helped a great deal of getting her out of her withdrawn shell, but there is still more damage that needs repaired."

"I hope I can help with her recovery in some way."

"You will have to earn her trust before you can help her, and she does not just hand out her trust like candy. She has been betrayed and abused too many times; you might have a hard time getting her to trust you."

"As you say, but I will help her if I can."

Alkanphel was grateful that Mirabilis was determined to aid Rhiannon, even though he didn't know who she truly is. No one, aside from Alkanphel himself, knew who her father was. He didn't trust anyone with that piece of information, not even Mirabilis whom held a strong connection to him. All the new Zoalord knew about her was that she held special telepathic abilities and is Alkanphel's only named heiress. That was all the Council knew anyway. That was all they needed to know about her.

* * *

She waited for the two Zoalords to be a good distance away before she began to think.

His weariness confirmed what she had felt the past few days around him. He was suffering, and he was worried that it might lead to something permanent. She had noticed that his body wasn't storing enough energy properly and she had heard from the other Zoalords that he was known to disappear for years without explanation. What it came down to was this: he needed the Guyver Unit in order to recover from his illness before it was too late and he was counting on this new Zoalord to get a Unit before it was too late.

_I'll assist Imakarum in any way I can_, she decided.

A gun shot rang through the corridor and she felt something go through her abdomen. Warm blood dampened her clothes as she fell to her side. She heard noises, but they sounded as though they were far away. Someone shook her, trying to keep her awake, but her vision had already gone black.


	5. Chapter 5

She had yet to awaken.

Dr. Barcas saw her wounds heal right before his eyes before any of the other scientists got a hold of her. He couldn't believe what he saw. Rhiannon had completely healed without any infection before she was examined. He had seen some strange phenomena before, but this was near impossible. Not even a Zoalord had this rapid healing capability!

The other Zoalords knew of this and began to question who she really was, and Hamilcar Barcas did not like it when the other Lords questioned their commander.

"I have to wonder if our Lord knew of this," Kurumegnic, the only dark skinned Zoalord, said, "and if he did, why he kept it a secret from us all."

"Keep such thoughts to yourself!" Barcas said.

"By all means, Doctor," Jarvil, the Zoalord wearing a turban, said, "the girl could prove to be a threat. If she were to turn against us, then she would be a force to reckon with."

"I hardly doubt a human girl could harm any of us Zoalords," Kurumegnic said haughtily. "That flat chest sorry girl is as harmless as a fruit fly. All women her age are weaklings after all."

"I wouldn't say that so quickly, Kurumegnic," Amniculus said. "Lady Rhiannon is a strong and mature child for her age. By all means, she's ideal to be a Zoalord."

"She's bloody sixteen!" Jarvil protested. "I will not stand for a sixteen year old, illegitimate, female take the position of a Zoalord! It is unheard of that a female be as powerful as men!"

"Had I not known better, Jarvil," Purgstall said coolly, "I would say that you would rather have an incompetent boy as a Zoalord over a competent woman. I would also point out that you turned it into a gender issue. What's so bad about a woman being a Zoalord?"

"I have to agree with you, Purgstall," Rentsi said, his black hair covering his right eye. "Women have certain abilities that we men just simply can't use without strict discipline. In my honest opinion, she would be a more efficient leader than us."

"Explain, Rentsi," Caerleon said.

"Women have been known to be more creative than men, and Rhiannon is no exception to this fact," he explained. "I'm unsure if you all know of this, but she does have a sketch book with drawings of all of us, including Alkanphel. In the background of the sketches she drew designs that she thought would best suite our personalities, most of them I thought were dead on and some I would never even have thought of before."

"We all appreciate your words on the girl's mind," Kahn, an elderly Zoalord, remarked, "but what does art have to do with leadership?"

"She sees the world in a different way than we do," Waferandos said. "I think I understand where Rentsi is going with this; Lady Rhiannon thinks in a different way that we never would consider until the last minute."

"I'm still against a female ascending to the rank of Zoalord," Kurumegnic said.

* * *

_Sexist,_ Rhia thought in the infirmary. She shut her mind and she heard nothing more of the discussion. She rolled onto her right side and stared into space.

Kurumegnic had gotten onto her black list in a matter of seconds along with Jarvil. How the heck was she a flat chest? She had a normal sized chest, so she didn't see anything wrong there. And harmless as a fruit fly? That really ticked her off. She would have to show him how dangerous she was the next time he called her harmless.

Sin had always been a good friend to her and he was there when she needed advice from someone other than Barcas. Rentsi had been kind to her and she had shown him her sketch book, an honor that was rarely given to anyone. Purgstall was also a good friend, but she never would think that he would stand up for her. Just thinking about him stirred something in Rhia, something she never felt before. She ignored it; she would think about it later. For now, the man held more respect with her than he did before.

As for the rest of the Council, she would have to prove herself loyal to Lord Alkanphel before they would ever trust her.


	6. Chapter 6

Rhia returned to Japan with Imakarum and Purgstall the next day. The man that had tried to kill her was a Zeus' Thunder sympathizer, and now Alkanphel thought his only heiress would be safer in her home country and in the one city that she knew every nook and cranny by heart.

Soon after nightfall, the Guyver Gigantic appeared and attacked Cloud Gate. Guyver 3, however, was scouting the building for the main command center.

"Are you sure you don't want help, Mirabilis?" she asked Imakarum before she left the command center.

"This task was given only to me, Lady Rhiannon," he said. "Remember Alkanphel's orders; you are not to get involved."

"I know," she said and left with Purgstall. She didn't say much, but Purgstall had a feeling that the young lady was tracking the movements of the Guyvers through the thoughts of Zoanoids because a smile flickered across her face. When they reached the emergency command center, she said, "The Gigantic unequipped his armor. Guyver 1 is regrouping with Guyver 3 and will soon go up against Lord Mirabilis."

"Have I ever told you that your telepathic abilities scare me?" Purgstall said.

"I've heard you think it, but not out loud," she replied.

"Is there anything that escapes your telepathy?"

"Not much, and no more questions, the fight's starting," and the command center shook from an explosion from the top level.

The two Guyvers fell to Shinjuku and Mirabilis followed Guyver 1. Then Aptom the Lost Number appeared.

_It appears that the newest member has powers nearly equivalent to Alkanphel's power,_ she thought after Mirabilis destroyed a building with one attack while trying to destroy Guyver 1 and Aptom. She wished she could ignore Alkanphel's orders and joined Mirabilis; the Guyvers were putting up a good fight against the new Zoalord, even when Guyver 3's ambush didn't work. The fight then took to the sky after Mirabilis transformed.

"Lord Purgstall," one of the Zoanoids at the computers said, "there's a news helicopter heading toward the fight. Shall we radio them to turn back?"

"No," Purgstall said. "This could turn to our advantage."

_Indeed,_ Rhia thought.

_How in the hell is she still alive?_ she heard a human behind her and she spun on the dot.

"Don't even think about," she commanded the human and forced him to submit to her. Purgstall turned his chair around and saw what she was doing. "Drop your weapon."

He didn't have a choice; the Zeus' Thunder operative dropped his gun and begrudgingly knelt before her and Purgstall.

"How did you get past security? Only Zoanoids are allowed here," she said and mentally forced him to speak.

"I posed as my twin brother," he said. "He was a candidate for Zoanoid processing, so I killed him and took his place. I had no idea the heiress of a Zoalord was still alive."

Her anger grew uncontrollably, and before she knew it, the man's head twisted completely around and his limp body fell to the floor. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt his life force slip into the void. "Oh my God…" she said and a sense of nausea began to wash over her.

Purgstall quickly led her to a trash bin and she threw up. She felt him rub her back and his mind brushed against her mind.

_Are you alright?_ he asked her.

_I…think so,_ she replied. _I…I had no idea…I didn't mean to kill him…_

_Take a moment to calm down,_ he told her and he returned to his post. "What are you looking at? Return to your posts," he told the Zoanoids staring at Rhia in shock.

_What have I done?_ she thought.

* * *

The fight with the Guyvers and Aptom was over. Mirabilis was still furious that Fukamachi and Makishima were able to give him that slip, but that made him all the more determined to get their Control Medallions.

He returned to Cloud Gate and met Purgstall in the emergency command center, and there was a clean-up crew there too.

"What happened here?" he asked Purgstall.

"Rhia killed a rebel by accident," he said.

"That's not like her to kill someone," he said in shock. "What happened?"

"She forced the rebel to submit to her before he could fire his weapon here," he explained, "then she had him tell her and me how he got passed security. After he told us that he killed and impersonated his brother, she became enraged and lost control of her powers." He sent an image of a man's limp body on the floor with his head turned completely around.

"Is she alright?" _She's growing more powerful,_ he thought.

"No, she's isn't."

"Where is she now?"

"In her quarters, but I would advise to give her some space until morning. She needs time alone."

"Very well, I'll tend to her tomorrow," he tried to reach out to Rhiannon mentally, but was repelled by a wall. He saw the wisdom in Purgstall's advice; she was deeply disturbed so much that she was using the emotion as a barrier in her mind.

_I'll have to report to Alkanphel about this,_ he thought and left the command center.


	7. Chapter 7

Rhia was out of touch with the world around so much that she jumped when she heard someone knock on her door. The door opened and the person she least expected came in her quarters.

"Lord Alkanphel? What are you doing here?" she said.

"I heard what happened," he said and hugged her without warning. Rhia turned at least twenty different shades of red when he did that, and he was the only person now that even gave her hugs. "I thought you would like a friend to talk to."

"That's kind of you," she said, her cheeks turning even redder. "I wished I knew how to talk about this."

"How about we start with how you feel about it," he let her go and they sat down in front of her glass cased cabinet that protected the iei of her mother. "I may not be your parent, but I know that you need to talk about what you did."

"I feel horrible," she began. "Mother always told me that it was a terrible to kill a person without just cause, like protecting a helpless person. How do I justify what I did? He wasn't pointing the gun at Purgstall; the gun was pointed at me." Tears came to her eyes. "I didn't have just cause to kill him, and it felt wrong to take his life. I felt him enter the void. It was like part of my own soul had been ripped apart."

"It appears that there is another lesson I need to teach you," he said and got up. She watched him, puzzled, walk over to her night stand and pick up

* * *

Imakarum was starting to worry about Lord Alkanphels heiress until he saw two blurs, one white, one violet, zoom pass him and he heard Rhiannon yell, "COME BACK HERE!"

"What the hell was that about?" he said and followed them to the upper levels of Cloud Gate. He could not believe what he saw: Alkanphel was laughing and Rhia was chasing him, apparently mad about something.

"Give it back, Alkanphel!" she demanded and Imakarum saw him hold her sketch book over his head. "Mother gave that to me! Give it back!"

"Okay," he said and handed her the sketch book. She looked at him with absolute puzzlement on her face as she took back her book. "Now, think back before you killed that man. Did he not say that he killed his brother?"

She nodded and Mirabilis knew where this was going.

"What he didn't tell you is that he killed a number of Zoanoids on the way to where you were. If he had lived, he might have killed more before he himself was executed."

"I would never have thought of that," she whispered and looked at the floor.

"This is your lesson, Rhia," he lifted her chin up. "You have to move on in life. You cannot continue to live in the past."

She heard those words before. Her mother had whispered those words to her before she died.

"Starting today, you will begin your training to be a Zoalord," he told her and she bit her tongue to keep herself from objecting. "Purgstall will be your mentor, and he will be keeping me and Dr. Barcas updated on your progress. I expect you to have leadership skills by the time we meet again. I hope you do well, Rhiannon."

He walked away from her and teleported away, leaving Rhia bewildered and shocked. Mirabilis walked away to leave the girl to her thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note:** I felt that I should have added a little bit more to this chapter. In honesty I suck at making long chapters and any fanfic story deserves long chapters.

* * *

"You need to make your voice more firm when giving orders, Rhia," Purgstall told her again.

Three months had passed since she had begun her training. Every day Purgstall would give Rhia command over Cloud Gate while he observed her giving commands and overseeing Zoanoid production. Each session grew longer and longer until he gave her command for an entire week. She had done perfectly well with the task, and Purgstall had even given her a rare complement. Yet, she still felt that she wasnt ready to take the position of the commanding ranks.

"I know," she replied again. "I just wished I knew why my voice is breaking so much lately."

"Its probably nothing to worry about," he said and looked down at one of the computer screens, "and it appears that you have a message."

"Do you want to get it or should I?"

"I'll get it," he opened it and quickly said, "Drop what your doing and come! The Council has been summoned to the Dead Sea."

"What! Are you serious?" she jumped up and followed Purgstall to the helipad several floors below the command center. There was no helicopter. "Out of curiosity: how the heck are we going to get there?"

He grabbed her arm and her question was answered; they teleported from Cloud Gate to the Dead Sea.

"Right on time," Amniculus told them before Rhiannon fell to the ground. "She still hasn't gotten use to teleporting?"

"Are you well, Rhia?" Purgstall asked her. "You've never had this problem before."

"It appears that the girl is still a weakling," they heard Kurumegnic in a mocking tone.

"Rhia?"

"What? Has she fainted now?" he continued to mock her. "How childish of her."

Amniculus knelt next to her and checked her pulse.

"Something's wrong. Her heart is beating too fast."

At this, Barcas rushed over and confirmed what Amniculus said. Then he rolled her on her back and they all saw foam seeping out of her mouth.

* * *

Alkanphel knew something was wrong when he and Imakarum landed at the Dead Sea base. Rhiannon was not there and he could feel concern from a majority of his sons.

_Where is Rhia?_ He mentally asked Purgstall.

_She became ill when she arrived,_ the Austrian Zoalord said. _Barcas might be able to tell you more after the launch of the Ark._

"We begin," Alkanphel said a pit forming in his stomach as he began to fear the worst.

* * *

She missed the launch of Cronos pride project and creation, the Ark. It took her several hours to come out of unconsciousness, then she overheard Barcas and Alkanphel's conversation.

"I warned you that a half breed child would possibly be unstable," the old man said.

"Then run tests and confirm if she really is falling apart," the Supreme Commander said. "If she is, then put her in the optimization tank before it's too late."

"It may be too late already, my Lord."

"Just do it. I don't want to lose her; not after the hell she's been through," she heard something creep in his voice.

"For you, Lord Alkanphel, I will do all that I can for her," the old doctor left his lord's side.

Rhia retracted her mind, upset about what she heard. Barcas had called her a half breed. It sure as heck explained why she was so different, but what did that mean? Was she an experiment? If she really was falling apart, then why would Alkanphel want her alive so much?

_At least he knows that I have feelings,_ she thought darkly. She rolled over to her side and thought, _If__ I was an experiment, what was I meant for? Was I meant to heal him somehow? _

She had healed in a matter of minutes after being shot in the abdomen, so it would make sense if she had other abilities aside from her telekinesis. Now the question became: what could she really do?

A scientist was close by, monitoring Rhias heart rate and thought waves. He was loyal to Cronos, but, like his colleagues, he was injected with the virus that insured loyalty to Cronos. He didnt need the vaccine any time soon, so he wouldnt notice anything if she were to kill some of the virus. She reached out to him, and he didnt notice her mind brush against his. She isolated a cluster of the virus and killed the cells. The scientist still didn't notice a thing. Rhia felt a vast sum of her energy be drained from the process and remembered that a majority of things were affected by distance, like teleporting.

She put him to sleep and got out of the bed she had laid on. She noticed he had bandages on his hand and arm; he had burned himself recently. She ran her finger from the back of the bandaged hand and ran it up to the edge of the burn up his forearm. This time she didn't feel exhausted from the effort. The scientist stirred and she hurried back to her bed.

He didn't know she had been up, and he didn't notice that his burn no longer pained him. When he finally did realize that his burn was gone, Rhia couldn't help smiling out of satisfaction and trying not to laugh at him going bonkers over a vanished burn.

_Well that made my day,_ she thought and covered her face with the thin sorry excuse of a pillow.


	9. Chapter 9

"Quit fidgeting, Rhia," Barcas grunted when Rhia turned her head away while he was taking five blood samples from her.

"You try having a fear for needles," she shot back.

"Then get over it," he said and she remained silent for the remainder of the blood taking. He didn't tell her why he was taking blood, but he had a feeling that she knew anyway. She could eavesdrop on any conversation, private or top secret, without them knowing, and it agitated the old doctor when she knew things she wasnt suppose to know yet.

She was still considered a child in his eyes, despite how mature she was for her age. The girl possibly might know more about all the Council members than she let on, which might prove useful if there were to be anymore traitors aside from Guyot. The only exception to this was Alkanphel; he was the only one that was able to shield his mind from her.

"Well, that's it. You can look now," he said when he took the last sample from her.

She unrolled her sleeve and remained silent as Barcas left the room. He knew she was expecting the worst from the test. She was the only known half breed in existence, so more than likely the odds were against her surviving for more than a few more years. He only did this for Alkanphel.

_Barcas, am I suppose to have a head splitting headache?_ He heard Rhiannon's thoughts and the connection had been cut off almost immediately after that. He tried to contact her, but it was like shouting into empty space with his mind. She was unconscious again. He alerted the scientists in charge of monitoring her and left them to tend to her.

He soon regretted that decision. He was analyzing her DNA sequencing minutes later when one of the scientists contacted him.

"Doctor Barcas, you need to come see this," the human said, apparently shocked. "Rhiannon is-"

"I'm on my way," he said before the scientist finished and left his work.

She was a fourth transformed when he arrived. She screamed in agony, not even aware of the scientist trying to inject sedatives in her flailing, gold arms. Barcas gripped her head and commanded her to sleep. Slowly, her breathing relaxed, her eyes fluttered, but she fell into a deep sleep for the remainder of her transformation.

He stepped back. Her clothes were torn from her growth during the process, revealing three Zoacrystals in her chest and three in her abdomen. One giant Zoacrystal protruded from Rhia's forehead.

_She is her father's daughter,_ he thought as he monitored her transformation process.


	10. Chapter 10

_There was only the pain. _

_The pain numbed all her senses aside from her thoughts. It felt as though a thousand fire ants were stinging her constantly and a few had managed to crawl under her skin. _

_She couldn't feel anything else except the pain. She could only wait… _

_And wait…_

* * *

The first thing Rhia noticed was that the machines monitoring her vitals were far too loud. Then she noticed that the rest of her senses were jacked up as well. She smelled all the chemicals in the room, and she could feel every thread in the bed cloth under her fingertips.

"How is this possible?" she heard Purgstall say, for he was in the room with Imakarum, Barcas, and Sin; all four of them deeply concerned and curious about Rhiannon. "By all means, this shouldn't have happened at all!"

"I have been wondering that myself," the old doctor said. "Apparently there is more to this child that even Lord Alkanphel didn't know."

"Even Lord Alkanphel didn't anticipate this?" Sin asked.

"It's not surprising in the least, when you think of it," Imakarum said. "None of us know much about her aside that we all met her on or after X-day, and I hardly doubt that her blood work is in the computer database yet. Alkanphel might know her full history, but he's not ken on sharing it with me."

She opened her eyes slowly, but didn't move. She was on her left side facing away from the four Zoalords.

"Really?" Purgstall sounded surprised.

"He said that if that knowledge became common amongst the Zoalords, then her life would be in greater danger than if she were to remain an enigma."

"So, we'll have to trust our Lord about this until the time is right?" Sin asked.

"I don't know," Imakarum said. "As I said before: he's not ken about revealing certain things concerning Rhia, even to me. I'm not sure if even she knows about this either."

_Why can't they just say what they're talking about? _she thought irritably and looked at her hand. Her heart began to beat like a jack hammer. Her skin had turned to a gold color and hard brown skin covered her knuckles. Five gravity orbs protruded from her palm.

She sat up and only then did the other Zoalords notice that she was awake.

"Dr. Barcas," she said, noticing a change in her voice, "what am I?"

For a moment, he didn't say anything. She could sense that he was trying to figure out what he could tell her, and it was difficult to decide since he was acting under Alkanphel's orders to not reveal anything of her unless it was unavoidable. Finally, he said, "You're the only half-breed Zoalord in existence."

Her BS radar went off.

"How in the hell is that even possible?" she asked. "I don't have a Zoacrystal-"

"Yes, you do have one," the old man interjected, "or I should say seven crystals."

Rhia blinked. "Huh?"

"There is a mirror not too far from you if you want to look at yourself," Sin said.

She got out of the bed and walked over to the mirror above a large sink. She had to admit: her Zoaform was kind of cool. Her hair was now twenty thick locks and each layer of locks varied in length; the longest locks came down to her knees and the shortest reached the back of her neck. Her eyes were completely white, and a giant, smooth Zoacrystal occupied the middle of her forehead. There were three more Zoacrystals in her chest and three in her abdomen. Various gravity orbs protruded from various places on her body. Her breasts were covered by some sort of crystal formation, but she thought it was a tad revealing since it resembled a bikini top.

"Well, what do you think?" Purgstall asked.

"I like it," she said, "but I have to wonder what these thick locks are meant for."

Barcas walked up to her and touched one of the locks. A jolt of electricity shot through his fingers and he jumped back out of instinct. The skin that had made contact had been burned.

"Didn't expect that," Rhia said with a smile. "That'll certainly come in handy in a fight." She ran her hand through her locks of hair and didn't get electrocuted. Sparks emitted from the locks that she had moved as they rubbed together and generated more electricity. She smiled; she was going to have fun with her newly awakened powers.


	11. Chapter 11

To Rhia's disappointment, Dr. Barcas mentally overheard her excitement to test her powers on the Guyvers and forced her to return to the Arizona base in North America. They had one hell of an argument that made the three other Zoalords in the base teleport away before the foundation began to shake. In the end, about an hour or so later, Barcas had to mentally command her to return to Arizona. It became apparent that Alkanphel and Barcas were the only ones who could give her commands that she could not disobey.

Now, a few weeks later, she laid on her bed in her quarters in the Arizona base, and she realized how rash she had been at the time. It was a good thing Barcas saw that, or she might have gone against Alkanphels orders and gotten herself injured or killed.

_It's like I hit puberty all over again, _she thought. It took her several days to return to her calm and collected mind. She apologized to Barcas about the fight and he told her what he found in her blood work.

"Your body is going through another stage of growth," he told her. "In short, you're reaching sexual maturity.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked. "I really can't afford to be attracted to men or have any men chase after me with what's going on in Japan and here in America. There's no time for that nonsense."

"I have to agree with you there, but that is whats happening in your body, Rhiannon. The only way to avoid such trivial problems is for you to control yourself. I might be able to find a way to decrease your pheromones during those times, but it will be up to you to control your emotions. Do you understand?"

"I understand," and that was the end of that conversation.

Since then, she stayed in her quarters. When she went to the training grounds, she observed the reactions of the lesser male Zoanoids and male humans around her. They all appeared to be attracted to her; the humans more than the Zoanoids. When they tried to approach her, she reminded them that the time was inappropriate and they snapped out of their trance. She did her best to distance herself from the men as she sparred with a Hyper Zoanoid. She was glad that the Hyper Zoanoids didn't succumb to her pheromones as much as the underlings around them and they were proving to be rather trustworthy body guards while she trained. There were a total of five Hyper Zoanoids present, and each of them took turns sparring with her. The other four that didn't spar with her at the time kept the underling Zoanoids and humans away from the area.

After an hour of this, she took a break.

_I hope Barcas will find some sort of solution soon, _she thought. _Ive heard of love spells, but this is ridiculous._

"Got something on your mind, Little Miss?" one of the Hyper Zoanoids asked. He was the robust, power house of the five that sparred with her, and judging from his black hair and predominant cheekbone, he was probably of Native American descent.

"Just agitated by the attention I'm getting from the normal Zoanoids and humans," she said. "I really can't afford such nonsense at a time like this, especially with all the havoc Zeuss Thunder is causing here in America."

"Sometimes you just need to ignore those things," he said. Itll pass soon enough. "Just humor them until they realize they acted like a dumbass."

"Easier said than done, especially with this many men around."

"Just hang in there."

Something touched her mind and she heard Dr. Barcas, _Rhiannon, the Council has been summoned to Japan. Drop whatever youre doing and come with me. _

* * *

Several hours later and a flight over the battle scarred Tokyo, Rhia sat with the Council in the meeting hall in Cloud Gate. Lord Purgstall had just finished telling them how Mirabilis had fallen at the hands of the Guyver Gigantic and now they viewed pictures of the damage done to the city. Rhia listened in silence, her rage growing at the words spoken by Purgstall and the objections made by Sin and Barcas.

Suddenly she stood and walked calmly to the doors.

"Miss Rhiannon?" Caerleon said.

"I've had enough," she said, keeping her voice emotionless. "I cannot stand to hear this idiocy anymore."

"Rhiannon!" Sin said surprised.

"From the way I see it, it is common sense to protect the city under your care, even if the Guyvers were the ones attacking it."

"Keep such treasonous thoughts to yourself," Barcas nearly shouted. "Else you might never take your place as a Zoalord."

"The child does prove a valid point, Dr. Barcas," the other old Zoalord, Kabril Kahn, said. "Lord Alkanphel would want us, his Zoalords, to protect the regions entrusted to us, but never to pursue the Guyvers. We can drive them off, we just cannot kill them."

"I'm surprised," Kurumegnic said with an evil smile on his dark face. "None of you see the poison in her words, the words spoken by a woman no older than sixteen."

Rhia glared at him; the tips of her ears burned red as her anger reached its limits.

"How do we know shes on our side anyway? he continued. For all we know, she might sympathize Guyver 1, or to her, Sho Fukamachi. She might tear off Guyver 3s head if given the chance, but Guyver 1? All women are weak at heart, including her, which could prove dangerous to our glorious plans."

"What gives you such ideas, Kurumegnic?" Purgstall stood up becoming angry. "If our Lord Alkanphel trusts her enough to make her his heiress, then why should we have to worry about her betraying us? Or are you just accusing her because she is of the opposite sex?"

"May I remind you all about the woman that protects Guyver 3, Shizu Onuma. How do we know that little miss Rhiannon Maaka will not turn out like her and try to protect our enemy?"

Rhia walked over to Sin and tapped in commands on his display screen. A news article appeared on all of their display screens:

_Honda Akito was charged on August 19th 2006 with the involvement of the murder of Maaka Elizabeth whose daughter, Maaka Rhiannon, was the sole survivor of the terrible traffic accident on June 31st, 2005. _

There was a picture of the wrecked limo that had transported Rhia and her mother that night after the wreck. The limo was unrecognizable; it was a miracle that Rhiannon was standing before them alive and healthy. It was crushed like a broken accordion; the windows were shattered, one door was missing, and the drivers cabin was crushed.

"My mother and the driver were killed, and I was hospitalized for a month," she said. "Do you honestly think I could spare any sympathy to anyone that takes the lives of innocent civilians after what happened to my mother?"

She stalked away, leaving the ten Zoalords to digest this new piece of information.

"I had no idea..." Rentsi said in shock.

"I think this proves that Lady Rhiannon is not weak," Waferandos said.

"Alkanphel said that her mother was dead, but I never asked how she died," Sin said in a low voice they had never heard from him before now. "No wonder why she's so withdrawn..."

Purgstall got up and swiftly walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Sin.

"To find Rhia," he replied before disappearing into the hallway.

* * *

It didn't take him long to find Rhia. All the Zoanoids were avoiding the area she was at, which was on the same level as the meeting hall. She was staring out the window overlooking the destruction wrecked upon Tokyo silent tears streaming down her face. Her sapphire eyes were glazed with sorrow. This was the first time Purgstall had ever seen Rhia cry. He walked up close to her, without drawing attention to himself.

"Rhia?" he said gently and she spun around.

"Hello Lord Purgstall," she said wiping away her tears with no success. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Rhia," he said in the same gentle tone. "I'm sorry that you had to put up with all of that. You should not have had to revisit those memories."

"I am use to unkindness," she said. "Ever since I was very little, I have been an outcast among my family and my peers; my only friends were my mother and the driver and his family."

"I guess Honda saw to it that you were miserable?" he asked.

"Yes. He hated me with a passion because I was abnormal, she gazed off into space. Not that it matters anymore, but I still remember the treatment I got every day until Alkanphel took me in as his heiress."

"Nor should you forget it," he clasped her right shoulder with his hand. "It was cruel the way you were treated back then, but now it is the past. Learn what you can from it and move on. It is what Alkanphel has been trying to get into your skull the past few months."

She was silent for a moment then she said, "You're right. Its hard not to think of the accident, but I need to concentrate and better control myself in the future."

"That I have no doubt you will." _I'm proud of you, Rhia,_ he told her through their mental link.

_Thank you,_ her mental voice was almost a whisper and Purgstall knew she meant it. She was nearly ready to become a leader.


	12. Chapter 12

Sin Amniculus walked in on a moment between Rhiannon and Purgstall. It was almost odd to see the two so close to each other; Rhia usually kept her distance with people in general except Alkanphel.

"Excuse me," he said and they both looked at him. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Dr. Barcas has requested to see us both, Purgstall."

"Very well," Purgstall gave Rhia a friendly smile and said, "Do try and stay optimistic today."

"I will," she promised and he left with his friend to meet with the elder Zoalord.

Looking for a quiet place where she would be undisturbed by anyone, Rhia kept track of Amniculus, Purgstall, and Barcas. She had settled herself in a stairwell by the time they had begun their conversation.

"You have settled," Dr. Barcas said; Rhia sensed some sort of dread in the elders mind.

"Doctor Barcas, what is the matter?" Purgstall asked.

"I never meant to talk to anyone about this, but under the circumstances, I feel I have no other choice."

"Doctor?"

Sin remained silent; Rhia could sense his concern along with Purgstall's.

"Sin. Purgstall. Before I tell you this, you must swear to me that when the time comes, you will stand to defend our lord, Alkanphel, no matter what"

"But why ask us this?" said Purgstall. "He knows our loyalty is unshakeable."

"And that is absolute. I swear it, no matter what happens, my allegiance to Alkanphel will never waver!" Sin swore.

"And neither will mine, and that is a fact!" Purgstall swore.

And with that, the elder began his tale.

Centuries ago, he had been an average human reaching the end of his life. He was aboard a merchant vessel sailing to the New World that was Brazil, and on that journey did fate call upon the old man. The ship had been devoured by a vortex and all hands were lost except him. He awoke on an island and immediately encountered strange creatures of monstrous sizes and creatures of mythology. He ran and ran until he stumbled upon a paved road. He began to follow it, as though a voice were telling him to do so. It lead him up a mountain where he saw that indeed he was on an island, and it was surrounded by vortexes. He continued to follow the road until he found a massive temple. None of the inhabitants came close to the ancient structure, but that did not stop the old man from entering it. Pictures of the creatures decorated the walls within the temple, then the old man came across a picture of a powerful being. He would not know who it was until he came to the room where the voice was calling him to. Inside the room was a pod, and in that pod was Alkanphel.

_He really is old,_ Rhia thought. _He is the first Zoalord created by the Advents themselves! _

Barcas continued with his tale, telling Sin and Purgstall how the eleven Zoacrystals that would be used to create the rest of the Zoalords were made and that he was given the task to find those Zoalords worthy to receive that power. Then, one year there was a change in Alkanphels metabolism, and his appearances became less frequent until he disappeared for an entire year. Barcas went to Silha, Alkanphels home, to find Alkanphel on the floor of the temple in a near death state. Nothing would wake him from the coma, and to this day their lord suffers from these hibernations and they have been increasing in length over time.

_I have to wonder if the Advents have something to do with this illness he suffers, _she wondered when Barcas was done and the meeting between the three had ended.

Barcas soon left, leaving the two loyal Zoalords to ponder what he had told them. Sin decided to stay in Japan to help Purgstall if the Gigantic appeared again. Rhia paid little attention to those two; she was paying more attention to Barcas, whom was searching for her.

_You know you can just call me and I'll come,_ she told him through their mental link as Zoalords.

_I know, and I know that you were eavesdropping on the meeting, _he said annoyed. _Your telepathy may be a gift, but there are times I wished you didn't have it. _

_You and me both, _she said. _It is a gift in a way; it helps rat out traitors like the Zoalord that has taken an interest in the Guyver. _

_Eh? Who is it? _

_Kurumegnic, the sexist bastard. _

_Has he insulted you again? _She could sense him restraining himself from rolling his eyes.

_Yes, the ball-less git has insulted me again. If he does become a traitor, oh I would gladly tear out his Zoacrystal after I toss him around like a rag doll. _

Barcas shivered in surprise at the malice in her voice. _Do you hate him that much? _

_Yes. _

Barcas sighed. This was also something he hated about Rhia that he often pointed out: she was predictable and unpredictable. Predictable because she was an adolescent and would naturally act like a teenager in this era. Unpredictable because she kept her thoughts to herself and no one could tell what she was thinking or planning most of the time; her behavior didn't fall into a pattern like most teens in this era. Then again, she wasn't born entirely human and possibly had to remain unpredictable in order to survive. All the same: it was a dangerous combination for she could throw a person off about her personality and behavior at a moments notice.

_Do I have to return to Arizona with you?_ she asked, changing the subject.

_No,_ he said without hesitation. _You're almost done with your training; it would be pointless to keep you there when you are needed in your home land. _

_Very well then,_ she cut off their mental link and left the stairwell.

* * *

**Author's note:** Please review this story! I would like to hear your opinions on it, even if it is rude.


	13. Chapter 13

From the stairwell, Rhia walked to the floor where she could see all of Tokyo. She wanted to gaze upon her damaged home.

Tiny flakes of snow were drifting down from the dark sky to the battle scarred city below. In places here and there snow had begun to accumulate and cover the battle scars in a blanket of white. The city glowed with light as the civilians continued with their lives in the cold afternoon. She and her mother were once like that before the accident that took her mothers life. When she was smaller, back before her mother met Honda, Rhia would play in the snow with her mother and sometimes with a few cousins that managed to sneak away from their hateful parents. She longed to go outside and stand in the snow, but-

_Why am I thinking but? _she asked herself. _The Guyvers are not going to attempt another attack here for some time. Also, I can protect myself if I need to. _

With her mind made up, she walked up a few more levels until she was outside on the roof of Cloud Gate. The command post looked like a giant Control Medallion from the outside. Nothing remained of the damage wrought by Mirabilis months ago in the command post.

The snow continued to fall; a few flakes were caught in her starlight hair. She stayed near the door she came out of and just stood in the silence of the night. The cold didnt bother her in the slightest. She tilted her head up skyward and closed her eyes. Memories flooded her mind, rushing through her thoughts with warmth. A gentle tune accompanied those warm memories as though to emphasize even more how precious they were.

"Rhia?"

She yelped and jumped sending a puff of white up in the air and covering Purgstall in snow. He laughed and Rhia rushed up to him.

"Oops. Sorry, Purgstall," she said laughing and brushed some snow off his shoulders.

"I didn't mean to startle you either," he said, still laughing, shaking off the rest of the snow from his head. "You were out here for almost an hour; I was starting to worry about you."

"I was out here that long?"

"Yes, you were. What were you doing out here?"

"Just taking a stroll through Memory Lane."

It took a moment for him to register what she said. "You were revisiting memories?"

"The good memories," she assured him, "before Mom met Honda and when I had friends in the Maaka family."

He looked surprised. "You had friends in your mother's family?"

"Can we not talk about that, please?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just curious about you. Every time I speak with you or see you, I discover something new about you."

"Im something like one giant puzzle: it takes a long time to solve."

"I guess you can say that."

They stood in the snow for a long moment, and then she asked, "What about you? You know a little about me, but I know very little about you aside that youre Austrian."

He considered what she said for a moment. She sensed that her question caught him off guard.

"If you don't want to talk, that's okay," she said quickly and looked at the ground ashamed. "I'd better go."

She hurried back inside before he could say anything past her name. Who was she to ask something as personal as that? He was several ranks higher than her. She may be the heiress of Alkanphel, but that didn't give her permission to ask about their previous lives.

_Why am I thinking so much about it?_ she asked herself. _Its almost like..._ She remembered what Barcas had said back in the Arizona base. Now his words echoed in her mind like a warning. _You will have to control your emotions._

* * *

Aptom was careful to not be spotted while he stalked his next meal.

No one else aside from a select few in Cronos would have noticed the signs that indicated that she was a Zoalord, not a full one at least. All the standard Zoanoids made way for her and they all obeyed her without question. Aptom doubted the kid knew what she was doing, but he really didnt care at the moment. The kid would be his first Zoalord meal.

The Zoalady, he dubbed her, made her way to the helipad and stood in the dark of the night with no one else there with her. Aptom smiled; she would be an easy target.

* * *

A Citiciss appeared out of the blue and landed near her.

_What the hell?_ "What are you doing up here?"

"I spotted you out here and thought you would like some company," the Citiciss said and her BS radar went off. Now that she thought of it, she couldnt sense him. She could feel his thought waves, but he wasnt a Zoanoid.

"You're not-"

The Lost Number leapt onto her and she threw up her arms to push him away. His body melted onto the skin of her arms like hot, melting wax. She screamed and tried to pull him off, but it was like slashing at boiling glue; it wouldnt come off.

_"Help!"_ she screamed physically and mentally.

_Rhia! Whats wrong? _Purgstall answered.

_Help me! I cant get him off! _

_Who is attacking you? _

She screamed in agony, unable to form words in her pain.

* * *

_Rhia answer me! _Purgstall nearly shouted at her. Her only response was her screaming. She was in terrible pain.

Without a moments hesitation, he locked onto her signal and ran off the roof outside the command post. He flew to the helipad and saw a horrific scene. The abomination, Aptom, was trying to absorb Rhia, whom was fighting with all her might against the Lost Number. Purgstall landed and fired a bolt of lightning at the Lost Number. He hit the monster's shoulder, but that didn't stop him.

_Rhia, I give you permission to unleash your powers on Aptom! _he told her and she unleashed a blinding jolt of electricity upon Aptom, destroying the liquid arms attached to her. The Lost Number let her go with his arms missing, swearing in several languages, then Purgstall sent another bolt of lightning at him, hitting the Lost Number in the center of his chest. He fell off the helipad and before Purgstall could rush up to the edge and finish him off he was gone.

Purgstall then turned and rushed up to the injured Rhia. Her arms were bleeding streams of scarlet, and she shook uncontrollably on the ground. She coughed and threw up blood, and only then did he notice that she was bleeding and several more places. Blood flowed from her nose and dripped from her ears. It was almost as though her body was desperate to flush out Aptoms cells.

"Oh my God," Purgstall whispered. _Sin! Rhia was attacked by Aptom! _

Not waiting for a response, he picked her up as gently as he possibly could and ran back inside Cloud Gate.


	14. Chapter 14

Sin reported to Barcas soon after Rhia's attack.

"How bad is she?" the old man asked.

"She has lost a lot blood from expelling Aptom's virus, but we will not know for certain if shell become a Lost Number until the blood work is done," said Sin.

"I highly doubt she'll become an abomination like Aptom. She has seven Zoacrystals and an immune system far more powerful than a normal Zoalord. No, what concerns me is the fact that Aptom tried to absorb her. I have to wonder if he knew that she's part Zoalord."

"If he didn't before then he knows now. More than likely he'll have noticed two sequences of DNA blended together. He may have mistaken her to be a real Zoalord before he attacked her."

Barcas took a moment to consider this. It would be easy for anyone with the right knowledge to mistaken her for a true Zoalord.

"Indeed. It would be better to process her into a fully fledged Zoalord. It would be better than having her bleed to death when Aptom tries to make another attempt on her life. That or she would have to be reprogrammed to use her powers in life threatening situations."

"Would Lord Alkanphel agree with that? He is rather protective of Rhia, and I doubt the rest of the Council will agree to this."

"He gave me permission to optimize her if her life was put in danger. As for the Council they do not need to know of this; some of them have opposed her as his heiress since he took her in."

"True and I can think of one dark skinned ass that hates her with a passion."

"We'll need to keep tabs on him. Rhia told me that he is showing interest in the Guyver like Guyot did."

_Not another betrayal,_ he groaned. "Do you want me to send Rhia to Arizona as soon as possible?"

"No. She needs to stay in Japan. If what she reported is correct, then we will need her to stay in Japan to keep Guyver 1 out of his hands. If he were to enter the Japanese Section without authorization, she'll know immediately. I'll send Hekkaring to oversee her process."

"Very well then."

The screen went black and Sin began to think. Things were starting to become more and more dangerous for Rhia, and the more they needed her powers. If she didn't have these powerful telepathic powers then Sin would gladly send her to a safer section such as Russia. Processing the girl was better than nothing, but he doubted it would be the best course of action at the moment due to Alkanphels sleeping curse. Alkanphel wouldn't be there to assert his command over her while she was being processed, yet Barcas didn't appear worried about it.

Sin left the command post and began his decent to the medical section of Could Gate. Thinking back at the insult Kurumegnic made to Rhia, he realized that if she didn't care about Cronos then she would have just walked out on Cronos a long time ago. Looking back, she was very loyal to Alkanphel and wanted nothing more than to assist him in anyway possible. It was as though she thought of him as family. He was probably her entire world along with a few others on the Council.

The elevator stopped and he got off. He walked to the last door in the hall and entered Rhias ward. She was asleep, her body done expelling Aptoms virus. She was pale; almost pure white. The nurse hooking Rhia to a bag of blood plasma greeted Amniculus and then returned to her work.

_Sin,_ Purgstall said through their Zoalord link. He was not in the room, and he had waited almost impatiently for the results of blood work several Cronos scientists took. _The scientists are done. Rhia will not become a Lost Number. _The relief in his words was obvious, yet he could sense his friends uneasiness. _What is it?_

_Dr. Barcas has given the order for Rhia to become a true Zoalord. _

_What! Why? _

Sin told him what the elder said. Purgstall remained quiet, though his surprise spoke wordlessly. Only after he was done did he speak.

_Does Rhia have a say in this? What if she were to fall in love with a human? _

_You know that her main desire is to help Alkanphel and Cronos in any way she possibly can, even if it meant becoming one of us. If she does fall in love she will choose to knowing shell out live her human mate. She's known this since she found out she was a half-breed child. _

_What are you saying? _

_She would have out lived any human any way, with or without being processed. Either or, her life span is nearly equal to that of a Zoalord. _

Purgstall digested this news. He always wondered why Rhia didnt try to court some boys in her age group. He would never have thought that she would truly live as long as a real Zoalord.

_That is a sad prospect. _

Sin silently agreed with his friend.

_Are you sure she'll agree to this? _

_Yes. I have no doubt in my mind she will. _

Purgstall was not convinced. Sin closed his mind and returned his attention the soon-to-be first female Zoalord.


	15. Chapter 15

_She had a dream _

_She was very small. There were two people talking; one was her mother, and the other looked exactly like her mother. _

_Im begging you, Becky, Elizabeth said almost desperately. I cant just let Honda do what he wishes to her! _

_Alright, Becky said. For you sis, Ill look after her, but I dont think her father would like it if she were not raised by her real mother. _

_Hell understand. What matters to him the most is if Rhia is happy and healthy. _

This happened when I was ten!_ Rhia realized. She and her mother left the building and got into the limo waiting for them outside the caf. It was night time. They went around a curve and the dumpster truck hit them. _

_The small Rhia, the only person awake, dragged her mother out of the wreckage. _

_"Mama! Mama wake up!" she said shaking her mother. "Mama? MAMA!" She felt a surge of energy pass through her and out of instinct she placed both her hands three inches above her mothers chest. A barrier of light encased her mother and the gash on her mothers head faded away along with several other injuries. The light faded and Rhia gasped, tears streaming down her eyes. _

_"Rhia," a man said behind her. She turned and a black, leather hand blocked her vision and she passed out. _

* * *

It was in the late morning when Rhia awoke in the medical section of Cloud Gate.

"Good morning," the nurse tending to her said. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," she replied and sat up.

"That's to be expected. Your breakfast will be here in a few minutes so try to hang in there." The nurse checked Rhias pulse, and then her lungs, all the standard procedure stuff doctors would do during a checkup. After proclaiming her fit, the nurse left.

Several minutes passed and she began to feel bored. Just when she thought of going back to sleep, the door opened.

"Hello, Purgstall," she greeted her friend.

"Good morning, Rhia," he said with a smile. "You look better than I expected."

"I must have looked bad for you to say that."

"You did, and the nurse said that you were dreaming all last night.

"I was..." The dream played out in her mind again. The man's voice sounded familiar somehow, like she heard it recently. However, the man was not her main concern. "Is there a computer nearby?"

Purgstall pulled up the stand with a keyboard and rolled it over to Rhia. She typed in commands and a holographic screen sprung to life. She typed in _Rebecca Maaka _in a search engine and she looked for a news article. Sure enough, she found it.

_Rebecca Maaka, age 30, died in a traffic accident. Her twin sister, Elizabeth Maaka, and her niece, Rhiannon Maaka, witnessed her horrific death. _

"No way," she said. "I was raised by my moms sister for five years?"

"What are you talking about? Purgstall asked. She showed him her dream, and then he gave her a questionable look. "Rhia, before you go off and-"

"It wasn't-""

"What if it was just a dream?" he cut in before she could say more. "What if youre mind conjured the dream because you nearly died last night from blood loss? Just think about it for a moment. What if it _was_ Rebecca who died in that accident?"

She realized he was right. She was getting ahead of herself and she had discarded her logic in the process.

"You're right," she said. "I'm sorry."

"It's understandable, Rhia," he said closing the subject and moved on to what was decided last night. "Dr. Barcas has decided it would be best for you to be optimized."

"What? Why?"

"We cannot afford to lose you, especially in your position. If you were to become a full Zoalord then you would not have to bleed to death if Aptom tries to absorb you again; your immune system would purge his cells instead of your body forcing itself to eject the contaminated blood."

"What about Alkanphel? Does he know of this?" To be optimized would mean that she would be able to use all her powers without needing permission from the four Zoalords higher in rank than her, meaning the Restraint programing in her brain would dissolve completely.

"He gave his permission for Barcas to optimize you if your life was threatened by any force, and this recent attack qualifies as life threatening. More than likely Aptom will try to absorb you again and you must be able to protect yourself if none of the other Zoalords are around."

"What of my link with Alkanphel? He isn't...well...you know...around to assert his authority over me." She refrained from using certain words that would reveal Alkanphels condition if they were being eavesdropped.

"Barcas doesn't appear to be worried about that, and neither does Lord Alkanphel as a matter of fact," he said his face expressing equal concern as Rhia's. "Sin and I are as concerned about that as you are, but we know you will not betray Lord Alkanphel."

"What of the other Zoalords? Will they agree to this?"

"The only ones who will know of this will be I, Sin, Barcas, and Lord Alkanphel. No one else will know of this. It would be too dangerous to reveal you as a true Zoalord at the present time."

She did not look optimistic about it in the least.

_What the hell did I get myself into?_ Rhia thought just as Sin entered the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Sin walked in the room just as Rhia and Purgstall finished talking.

"I appear to be coming in on the end of conversations lately," he said announcing his arrival.

"Hello, Amniculus," Rhia said.

"You know you can call me by my first name in informal situations like now," he told her as he had done many times before.

"Sorry, its the Japanese blood in me," she stuck her tongue out and smiled.

"I do believe we've seen that part of you a lot more with your European heritage," Purgstall said. "Remember when Caerleon caught you singing that Irish song, the _Blarney Stone_ if memory serves me correct."

"I also got him to sing with me too," she grinned broadly at the memory. Europe had been the third continent Alkanphel had taken her to last year, and she had gotten to spend some time with Edward Caerleon. He was surprisingly easy to get along with once you got to know him, and he had a good singing voice once he got started. The entire base, including Alkanphel himself, heard their duet and the story of the two singing an Irish song spread like wildfire in Cronos. "It would be fun to get him to sing again."

"Why not do a duet with Purgstall?" Sin suggested.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Purgstall said. "My voice would be terrible enough to make even Mirabilis flee."

They laughed at that. It felt good to laugh. Rhia couldn't remember the last time she laughed like this with anyone. It took them several minutes to calm down enough to bring up a certain subject concerning Rhia.

"Have you told her about what was decided last night?" asked Sin.

"Yes," Purgstall replied.

"I still think it is a bad idea," said Rhia.

"Barcas didn't appear to be worried about you turning on Lord Alkanphel if that is what you're thinking of," said Sin. "He appeared to be rather confident that you would remain loyal to Alkanphel."

Rhia sighed in defeat and flopped back on the bed. Apparently they would not hear a word of any doubt she held if Dr. Barcas was confident about her being processed. _This absolutely, positively sucks,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

_Sometime later in Cloud Gate..._

"And she thought it was her mother that died in the first accident?" Sin asked Purgstall after his friend told him of Rhia's nightmare.

"Yes, but personally I thought she was getting ahead of herself," said Purgstall.

"No, I dont think she was. It is outlawed, but there was once a tradition in big noble families, like the Maaka family, that kept the twin of the named heir out of sight and put word out that that twin died. That twin was referred to as a _senshikage_, or _shadow warrior_. Rebecca may have been Elizabeths shadow and, since that practice is outlawed, Honda would not have known about Rebecca unless Elizabeth introduced them to each other."

"That is a horrible tradition!"

"Would you prefer the European tradition of murdering family to get the family fortune? I agree with you that it is terrible to do such things to a person, but it had many advantages in feudal times. If the heir were to be assassinated or die, then the _shadow_ would take the heirs place and thus keep the family stable. The twin may not have been the original heir, but the family heritage would still go to a pure blood family member and the line of the head of the family would continue."

Purgstall remained silent while he processed this information for a moment, and then said, "It is smart, but it is still a cruel practice."

Sin nodded, understanding his friends opinion.

"Still, theres something odd," said Purgstall. "Rebecca's death was not recorded on an earlier date than when she really died, meaning she might not have been a _senshikage_."

"I know. I think there is more going on than even Rhia knows because she told me she never met her aunt before the accident."

"When did she tell you that?"

"During her tour in the North American Section last year she told me a little of her family, and they do practice the _senshikage_ tradition."


	17. Chapter 17

Rhia finally got out of the infirmary three days later and the first thing she did was go straight to the cafeteria. She needed more than the meager meals the doctors saw fit to give her and she made sure to get enough food on her plate to quiet the raging lion in her stomach. Purgstall probed her mind several times which she ignored. Finally, just when she was about to sit down at a secluded table away from all the Zoanoids, he probed her mind so hard she nearly dropped her plate.

_Alright! What? _she nearly shouted mentally. _I'm trying to have a decent meal here! _

_The Council has been summoned to the Arizona base, _he told her calmly, yet she could tell he was irritated. _It's an emergency. Drop your meal and come with us. _

_You two go on without me. I can look after things here in Japan. _

She didn't get to sit down. Purgstall teleported to her side, gripped her shoulder, and teleported her to the helipad.

"You're going whether you like it or not," he told her and marched her on to the helicopter.

* * *

Barcas met with Rhia, Sin, and Purgstall on the helipad at the Arizona base hours later.

"Good, you made haste," he said after they greeted him. "Rhiannon, I need you to come with me. Sin, Purgstall, you two can head down to the meeting hall; the rest of the Council will be here shortly."

Rhia followed Barcas and she glanced over her shoulder nervously. Sin nodded and told her mentally, _You'll be fine._

* * *

In the Hall of the Celestial Sphere, the Council of Twelve went over the damage done to the base by Guyver 3 in Gigantic form. All were accounted for, excluding Alkanphel and Imakarum.

"We are lucky that the damage has remained this minimum," Kahn said.

"Indeed," Jarvil said in agreement.

"Purgstall, where is Rhiannon?" Caerleon asked. "I thought she would be here seeing as she is Alkanphels heiress."

"She didn't feel well during the flight here," Purgstall lied. He, Sin, and Barcas were the only ones who knew what was happening to Rhia.

"Odd," said Rentsi. "I don't recall her ever getting ill."

"Knowing her, she'll be fine by tomorrow," Sin said and changed the subject back to the matter at hand.

Jarvil immediately said they should go after Guyver 3, but that was shot down by Barcas. Both Jarvil and Kurumegnic mocked him, making it appear as though they got the message, but Purgstall had to wonder if they were planning something.

_I wished Rhia was here,_ he thought, _she would know if they were plotting something against Cronos. _

Sin, however, was more concerned with what Guyver 3 took.

_He had a reason for doing this, _he thought. _It was reported that he was seen flying off with a cargo container. Barcas probably has a hunch as to what he took. _

* * *

In a private lab several stories above the Hall of the Celestial Sphere, one sole person began to stir in the only active, foggy optimization tank. The lab was deserted, and only Dr. Hamilcar Barcas was allowed here aside from a selected few that monitored the progress of the process in that tank.

None of the two scientists present could see the figure in the tank clearly, but the silhouette they saw suggested that this person was powerful and exceptionally elegant. So far, nothing was amiss; the subject in the tank had not become a Lost Number. In fact, the process was going much faster than predicted. They didn't know who it was that was being processed into God knows what; they were just told to monitor this persons life signs.

At that moment, Dr. Barcas entered the lab.

"How goes the process?" he asked the scientists.

"It's going smoothly sir," one of the scientists said. "The subject will be ready very soon at this rate."

"Good. You are dismissed."

The scientists bowed and left the lab. Barcas checked the life signs, and then he looked at the tank. The fog was clearing now, revealing a female figure with long golden locks of hair, gold skin, orbs protruding from various spots on her body, three Zoacrystals in her abdomen, three crystals in her chest, and one main crystal in her forehead. All in all, this female had a similar battle form as Alkanphel; she even had the feather like formation on her shoulders. Barcas checked the monitors again; the female Zoalord was ready to awaken.

He typed in a command and she reverted back to her teenage human form. The amniotic fluid emptied out of the tank and the girl slumped to the bottom of the tank. The girl opened her sapphire blue cat eyes as the Plexiglas glass rose up and Barcas said, "Welcome, Fourteenth Zoalord, Rhiannon Maaka."


	18. Chapter 18

The helicopter flew across the California sky, carrying a well know Cronos VIP.

Agito Makishima smiled in his Gigantic Dark armor; it would be easy to capture the little half-breed.

* * *

The helicopter lurched suddenly and the door next to Rhia was torn off by Gigantic Dark. Before any of her guards could do anything, the Guyver shot them down with his head beam then grabbed Rhia by her arm.

"Idiot," she said and zapped him with 260,000 volts of electricity, a meager amount compared to what she was truly capable of. He let her go and she began her descent back to the ground. Guyver 3 then destroyed the helicopter with his pressure cannon and went after her.

Rhia swore at her lack of thinking. She couldn't use any of her stronger abilities without the permission of either Alkanphel, Barcas, Amniculus, or Purgstall. Right now she couldn't do anything unless she came close to death. There was one thing she could do though to keep anyone from finding out what she had become.

She closed her eyes just before Guyver 3 caught her. He swore a long stream of curses; the half-breed had entered a self induced coma.

_No matter,_ he thought. _Her DNA will provide everything I need for my plans. _

* * *

_In a mountain range in North America... _

They had just finished putting together this secret outpost when their boss showed up in his Gigantic form. The scientist in charge of the assignment given to the outpost grinned at the sight of the unconscious half-breed freak. He would have fun torturing the little abomination.

* * *

Scott Eagle hated being dragged to where ever Zeus' Thunder went.

His foster dad was an ex-Marine with a dishonorable discharge. His foster brother was the lead scientist of the outpost that he had been dragged to everyday to help put it together. He wasn't sure about his foster mom; she was a drunk, dead beat that watched TV all the time and did nothing else except eat and sleep. He had no idea how he ended up with them, but the Child Care system had dumped him on their doorstep and hadnt bothered to check up on him in ten years.

Today was one of the days that gave Scott another reason to hate Zeus' Thunder. Soon after he checked himself in he saw a girl his age with starlight hair being dragged across the hangar. Her violet clothes were tattered and torn and she bled from several cuts on her body. Her head rolled and her hair fell away to reveal long, pointed ears. His jaw dropped; they were torturing Lady Rhiannon Maaka.

"Damn little freak!" he heard his foster brother say as he passed her and kicked her in the gut.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Scott nearly shouted and ran up to the unconscious Rhiannon.

"We're interrogating her that's what," his foster brother said snottily. "We're collecting as much data as we can from the little half-breed, and so far we havent learned much aside from her healing abilities."

"By torturing her? She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"She's the heiress of a Zoalord! She a freak of nature, and if you want a roof over your head until you turn 18 then keep your yap shut."

His foster brother strode off and Rhiannon was taken to a holding cell in the back of the hangar. Seven guards were posted near the door of the thick walled cell. Scott had seen it being constructed, but didnt have a clue what it would be used for until now.

He knew that this was wrong. If Zeus Thunder was going to start torturing innocent people like her, not to even regard her as a person at all, then he wanted no part of it. He was going to get her out of there.


	19. Chapter 19

They were harming her again.

Rhia's conscious was in dormancy to keep Zeus' Thunder from getting anything out of her. While she was dormant the Zoalord DNA remained inactive until she came back out, but there was another way. It was something Dr. Barcas could never have detected in the girl before her optimization, but it was there all the same. It was a subconscious being that had only came forward once before. Now it was coming forward again.

To the scientist, they thought they were getting somewhere when they saw the red lines appearing on her cheeks. Then her eyes opened and they discovered that they were on to something bad; her eyes were pure red with no pupils or irises. They sent another current of electricity through her and thats when it all went wrong.

She roared and sent the current back through the conductors causing the lights and computers in the room to short circuit or explode. The emergency lights came on and several soldiers hurried into the room to meet their deaths. Everyone heard them scream, and then everything was engulfed in flames. The half breed destroyed everything and everyone around her. When they shot bullets at her they were sent back at them without even touching her. Finally they surrounded her, and learned that was a big mistake.

Seven points on her body glowed and a barrier formed around the demonic half breed. They unloaded their magazines on her, but nothing touched her. Her barrier glowed brighter and became solid looking. When they couldnt see her anymore, the barrier suddenly expanded and everything around her was destroyed.

* * *

"What the hell!" Scott said when he saw the light coming from the outpost as he drove up in his Ford F150 truck. He had planned on parking his truck here and walk up to the outpost as part of his plan of getting Lady Rhiannon out of there, but it appeared as though that plan was gonna be scraped.

He drove down the worn dirt road and slammed on the brake when he saw what was left.

"Holy shit!" he breathed at the site.

There was nothing. It was as though a missile had struck here. There was only a crater several miles long in diameter, and it was deep enough for it to be a lake.

He got out of the truck and walked up to near the edge of the crater. Nothing remained of the buildings, vehicles, nor anything or anyone else. It was as though it was all sucked up in some sort of black hole or completely disintegrated.

He heard something land five feet behind him and he spun. What he saw he could never have been prepared for. Standing before him was a demonic looking Lady Rhiannon with red markings and red void eyes.

He held up his hands and said, "Lady Rhiannon?"

She perked at that. She walked up to him cautiously until she was inches away from him, and then sniffed his face. She appeared to have recognized him because she had then started to make a purring sound.

He touched her face and she closed her eyes. Without warning, she collapsed onto him and was asleep before he could say, "Hey!"

_Wow! She's light,_ he thought as he carried her over to his truck. It was easy to get her in the passenger side and he didn't have trouble buckling her in. Once she was secure, Scott got into the driver's side, started the engine, and drove away from the crater.


	20. Chapter 20

Rhia slowly came back to awareness. She stretched her arms and yawned.

"Had a good sleep there, girly?" a boy next to her said and she jumped. She looked around herself and saw that she was in a truck, and the person driving was laughing. "Sorry, there," he said when he regained himself. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Where am I? Who are you?" said Rhia in perfect English. The boy looked like a teenage version of Lord Amniculus without the pointed ears. He also wore a t-shirt of a fire dragon and blue jeans.

"You're out of the Zeus' Thunder outpost in Arkansas, and my name is Scott Eagle," the boy said. "I know you're Lady Rhiannon. I was planning on getting you out of there, but you kinda did that yourself."

"I did?"

"You don't remember?" he asked confused. "Well, you did kind of look as though another personality took over. You had red markings on your face and your eyes were red."

Rhia kept her shock from showing. She knew now what he was talking about; that monster part of her had come out before. One of her mother's boyfriends had beat her mother severely and nearly killed herself. She remembered getting slapped across the room and her head hit the sharp edge of a table, and then there was a gap in her memories until she awoke in the hospital. Her mother refused to tell her what happened, but Rhia scanned her memories and saw that she had gone berserk and nearly killed the guy.

"It happened before, didnt it?" Scott asked.

"Huh?" she said coming back to reality.

"You've gone berserk before today, haven't you?"

She considered telling him for a moment, then she said, "Only once before."

"What is it? Some sort of alternate personality?"

"I'm not sure. All I know about is that it will only come out in extreme conditions. It can identify friends and foes, but it mostly reacts on instinct."

"It recognized me when I ran into you after the outpost was destroyed. It sniffed me and realized I was a friend."

"How is it that you came to know about that outpost?" she asked when she realized something. "If it recognized you as a friend then you were there when I was being tortured."

"My foster family supports Zeus Thunder," he told her. "I was the black sheep among them because I wanted no part of their little rebel group. They took me to wherever Zeus Thunder went and I had to drop out of school because of that."

While he spoke, Rhia scanned his memories and saw that he was telling the truth.

_How sad,_ she thought. _How could his government abandon him like that? _

"How is it that you got captured?" Scott asked. "I thought you would have been too well guarded to be captured."

"Makishima had the element of surprise," she told him, "and we didn't expect him to be in the area after his attack on our HQ. My guards were slaughtered, and there was no way for me to escape so I induced myself into a coma state that turns off my Zoalord DNA until I wake up. My body may have been asleep, but my mind remained awake for when I needed to awaken."

"You endured all that torture while you were asleep?"

"Yes. I even heard your argument with the man in charge of my torture."

"That was my foster brother."

They fell silent for a moment, and then she said, "I might fall back asleep soon. My body's still repairing itself from what they did to me the past month."

"Get as much sleep as you need," he told her. "The nearest town is an hour away, well be getting a meal there before we head onto Little Rock and thats a good two and a half hour drive."

"Okay," she said and laid her head against the window. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep, deep sleep that the bumps in the road couldn't awake her from.

Scott focused on driving them to the town of Clarksville, and that was when another dream started for Rhia.


	21. Chapter 21

_She was running through a forest. _

_Someone was chasing her and she had to get away. She didn't know who it was. All she knew was that the thing would hurt her. _

_The forest suddenly broke and she fell into a dark abyss. From the darkness two red voids opened and the darkness encased her._

* * *

Her eyes shot open and she sat up straight.

The truck was parked in front of a gas station in a town and Scott wasn't in the truck. Rhia slumped back and sighed.

_I need a break from all of this,_ she thought. A tap on the window made her jump.

"Special order for the fair lady," said Scott with a smile. "I hope you like pizza. He piled two pizza boxes next to Rhia as he got in the truck. I thought you would like some real food after a month of imprisonment."

_"Domo arigato, Eagle-san!"_ she said in her native Japanese and she took one of the boxes.

"I know what _san_ means," Scott said as Rhia started eating a slice of meat lovers pizza, "but what does _domo arigato _mean?"

"It means _thank you very much_," she said between bites. "Sorry about that. I forgot I'm still in America."

"When did you learn English, Rhiannon?" he asked. "You speak it as though you were born in an English culture."

"My mother taught me," she said after finishing her second slice of pizza. "My family is mostly European descent; my grandmother, my mothers mother, is Japanese though. My mother taught me many European languages when I was younger and we would often times switch languages while we spoke."

"You had a smart mom then," Scott said impressed and started eating his pizza.

They didn't talk for the rest of the time they ate. Rhia had devoured all of her pizza by the time Scott got half way through his.

"That hit the spot," she said.

"I'll bet so," he said, "and no you cannot have mine."

"Don't worry," she said and yawned. "I'll fall back asleep again anyway."

"Are you still recovering from all of that?" he asked concerned.

"Yes, but since I've got something in my system the healing process should speed up to its normal pace, she told him. The food Zeus' Thunder gave me wasnt exactly healthy by any means."

"I'll take your word for it," he closed his now empty pizza box, laid it in the back seat, and then started the truck. "By the way, you should contact Cronos ASAP. They need to know where you are."

"You're right! Thanks for reminding me." Her eyes unfocused as she reached out mentally to the nearest Zoalord, Sin Rubeo Amniculus, and found that he had been trying to contact her every since he felt her come back to her senses. She couldn't talk to him, she was too far away, but she was able to send him a rough location of where she was. She received an acknowledgement from him a second later. "Lord Amniculus knows where I am," she told Scott. "We might have an escort soon."

"Okay then," he said and she saw that they were back on the high way going towards Little Rock.

"Wake me up when we get to Little Rock," she told him and fell back asleep.

* * *

Scott continued driving on the high way as Rhia slept. He was surprised she could sleep through the real bad part of the road that was like a roller coaster starting up.

He mentally went over what he knew of her. She was taken in by the Supreme Commander of Cronos, the world power, and she was made his heiress. From what he heard from various gossipers, she was estranged from her mother's family the day she was conceived, and her stepfather had tried to sell her to Cronos last year. That was when she became the adopted daughter of the most powerful man in the world. Her foster father had taken her around the world and showed her various countries, various cultures, and formed a bond with her. Then, after the Guyvers showed up in Japan, she returned to her home country and took up her position in Cloud Gate as second in command. Scott had to admit, Rhia was a tough gal to go through all of that.

A movement in the trees next to the high way caught his attention. He kept one eye on the road, and using peripheral vision in his right eye, he saw a Rocies keep a constant speed with the truck. Their escort had arrived.

* * *

"Hey! Wake up," Scott said.

Rhia opened her eyes and sat up straight. Then she stretched her arms and yawned.

"We're near Little Rock," he told her, "and that escort you mentioned arrived about ten minutes ago."

Her eyes unfocused again and Scott wondered if she was just as powerful as a real Zoalord. She blinked and said, "They're mad at me for not waking up sooner, and just so you'll know I'm only partially as strong as the rest of the Council of Twelve."

"You can hear human thoughts?"

"It's not something to brag to other people," she gained a dark tone. "When I was little I could hear the thoughts of every person around me until I was taught to control it when I was six."

"That must have been a horrible time for you."

"It was. Imagine there being a pile of sheets over you and that pile gradually grew until it becomes unbearable and you cant breath, that is how I felt every day until I learned to shut it out."

"You said that someone taught you to control. Was it Dr. Barcas that taught you?"

She smiled. "No, but I can see how you came to that conclusion. It was Lord Galenos who taught me."

"Lord Galenos of the South American Section? You two go back that far?"

"I honestly didn't expect to see him again after he taught me to control my power, and since X-day weve kept in touch."

"Out of pure curiosity: how did you meet him before X-day?"

"My mother was meeting with a VIP in one of the Japanese bases. I was left out in the hallway at the time and Lord Galenos came down the hallway at the same moment. He was checking on the progress of the labs there and was done with his work when he met me. He felt my presence the entire time I was there, and he was surprised at how young I was at the time. Seeing how tired I looked, he helped me shut out all the thoughts that were not mine and he taught me how to protect my mind." Even now, nearly ten years later, she remembered that meeting. She hadn't noticed the stone Zoalord until he covered her ears with his giant, hard hands and blocked out the whispering thoughts of everyone around her except his. He couldn't physically speak, but he mentally instructed her how to erect a mental barrier. She smiled at the memory of meeting him again on Mount Ararat and surprising the rest of the Council with her familiarity with him.

"We're here," Scott said just as Little Rock came into sight.


	22. Chapter 22

The Rocies didn't expect to be escorting a VIP in an old bet up truck, but what came next took him completely off guard. Two Zoanoids of the five that were sent were suddenly attacked and killed.

_Son of a bitch!_ Rocies contacted Lord Amniculus and requested assistance before dying at the hands of Zeus.

* * *

Rhia's eyes widened at the wave of coldness she felt.

"Gun it, Scott!" she told him. "Zeus is after us! He just took out the escort."

Scott cursed a blue streak and put the pedal to the metal. In the rearview mirror she saw the all too familiar form of the black Guyver.

_Rhia!_ Lord Amniculus said his telepathic voice coming in loud and clear. _I give you permission to go all out on Guyver III until I arrive. _

_ Thank you, Sin!_ She was going to hug the older Zoalord's neck when she had the chance. The truck suddenly went airborne and flipped several times before landing back on its wheels in a ditch. "You okay, Scott?"

"Yeah," he said getting out of the truck. "Thank God for seatbelts."

She got out and was immediately back in the grip of Zeus. The sneaky little bastard almost immediately tackled her when she had gotten out Scott's vehicle.

"Not this time, bitch," she yelled and electrocuted him with her full force. Once she was out of his grasp and a few feet away, she transformed.

* * *

Scott covered his eyes when light engulfed Lady Rhia. He didn't know what to expect; he'd never seen a Zoalord transform before.

Her battle form was at least a foot taller than her human form, but she appeared to be the most humanoid Zoaform Scott had seen yet. Somehow she looked like she ate freakin' nails for breakfast while at the same time look beautiful.

"You're my bitch now, Zeus," she grinned maliciously at the black Guyver and making Scott back away an extra few feet.

"So you _do_ have a battle form," Zeus said, "but looks will only get you so far." He attempted to punch her, and found out quickly that was a mistake. Rhia caught and broke the hand he threw at her as easily as she would blink.

"You were saying," she said before tossing him into the trees lining the highway.

"Damn!" Scott couldn't help saying out loud. She was slapping the dark Guyver around like no one's business. Scott found himself rooting for her after five minutes into the fight when Zeus started to fight back.

* * *

**Note from Riven-del: Sorry for suddenly deleting chapters 22 onward. I wasn't happy with the way the story was going, and I believe the story's back on the right track. Will try to update more often when time and college allows. **


	23. Chapter 23

It just wasn't possible! How could a half-bred freak like _her_ become so powerful?

Guyver III, Agito Makishima, expected the heiress of Alkanphel to be trained in combat, but he didn't expect her to be _this_ strong. This was _not_ possible unless….but no, that possibility was too unlikely to consider at the moment. She was far too young to be processed.

"You can't honestly expect to take me down on your own, do you?" she asked when he caught her high kick.

"Who said I was on my own?" he told her and threw her away from himself. A black and white Zoanoid appeared out of the trees behind the half-breed and slashed at her back.

* * *

Rhia screamed in pain as some of her 'hair' was slashed off from an attack from behind. She could tell they were Zoanoids, but they were not soldiers of Cronos. Also, there was a Zoalord…no, a Zoalady?

"You gonna introduce your little girlfriend or not, Zeus?" asked a rather incensed Rhia.

"So, you finally noticed me," a female appeared in the air in front of Rhia. The new Zoalady looked alien like with two giant blades that replaced her hair and a Zoacrystal protruding from her forehead.

"Onuma Shizu," Rhia nearly growled the name. "I should have known Guyver III would do something like this eventually, but I didn't expect him to use me as your Zoaform base."

_What?_ She heard Scott Eagle's thoughts, and she chuckled at the shocked expression on Onuma's Zoalady face.

"I _hear everything_, Griselda," she revealed. "I heard every little detail of Zeus's plan to use me as your basis, your _foundation_ to be precise. However, you are imperfect, a cheap copy that was based on poor data collected at a hastily constructed outpost with scientists that had no idea that my true abilities were turned off while I was in my self-induced coma." Her Zoacrystals began to glow. "I'll gladly fight you, Griselda, Zeus, but your Libertus soldiers won't be helping you anytime soon."

The black and white Zoanoids below slumped to the ground unconscious. Griselda was already sweating from trying to protect her soldiers from Rhia's telepathy. She had aimed to put them into a petrified state, but this would work for the time being until Lord Amniculus got here.

"Griselda, what happened?" demanded the black Guyver that had apparently decided to join them in the air.

"The Libertus…they're unconscious, but they're still alive," Griselda panted. "She…she tried to kill them with her telepathy!"

"No, not kill," the younger female combatant clarified. "I aimed to 'freeze' them, but this'll work."

Guyver III, finally realizing they might have bitten off more than they could chew, positioned himself in front of Griselda.

"So, shall we dance?"


	24. Chapter 24

Rhia was the first to attack. She charged at Guyver III and landed a powerful punch to his gut. Griselda managed to get out of the way before her comrade flew past where she previously was. Griselda spun towards Rhia and the golden Zoalady backed away enough to avoid her hair receiving another tear in her tattered clothes.

The fight between her and the new Zoalady wasn't progressing; the two females were testing the waters for several minutes until Guyver III came back. He punched Rhia in the jaw and sent her backwards to where she was now above the Arkansas River.

_What the-?_ Rhia realized that during the time she Griselda had fought, Guyver III had enough time to summon the Gigantic armor. However, her discovery was too late; he fired his Head Beam and she felt it tear through her below her ribcage. He didn't give her a chance to recover; his fist connect with her face again, only this time she was sent downward to an island in the river below. The force he used was powerful enough that she felt the ground break under her and she landed in an undiscovered cavern.

She sat up, trying not to make her wound any worse than it already was, when her hand brushed against something metallic and she heard a _click_. She looked and saw that her hand had touched the center of something organic that was now moving. The organism broke free from its encasement and latched itself onto her.

* * *

Rhia's scream rang in Alkanphel's mind, and then the link was shattered. His eyes widened in shock for a moment before he teleported to where he last felt Rhia's presence.

* * *

The new Guyver had finished forming and repairing the damage done to the host. The coloring of the armor was exactly the same as the host's battle form, and the feathered features that were present in the host's battle form were also apparent in the armor. Vibration blades jutted on each elbow with additional blades on the wrists. The armor had morphed to allow the host's 'hair' to still be useable.

The Hyper Sensors moved in detection of a burst of energy above and right of the host. A battle was ensuing between another Guyver and something else a good few yards away. Considering that the host had yet to regain consciousness, the Guyver decided to stay put until the fight was over. If they came close then it would fight to defend the host.

* * *

Sin Amniculus was furious. He saw Lady Rhiannon fall by an attack from the Gigantic Dark.

"How dare you attack her!" he yelled at Zeus and started barraging him with energy blasts.

* * *

Scott was glad that there was a bridge connecting the island Lady Rhiannon landed on to the side of the river they had been on before this mess started and was doubly thankful that Lord Amniculus was keeping Zeus busy. It only took him a minute to find the crater and the golden Guyver standing in the center of said crater.

_There's another Guyver?_ He thought in shock, and as though it could detect his thoughts the new Guyver looked directly at him. He stayed where he was, both he and the Guyver stared at each other in the eye for what seemed to be an eternity, until the Guyver turned her—it was very obvious that it was a woman—head away. Now that he had a proper look at the female Guyver, he noticed that it had long locks of 'hair'. _Is that_…?

A flash of light drew his attention away from the Guyver up to the sky.

* * *

Alkanphel arrived and found himself above a river. Sin Amniculus was there, along with Guyver III. Said Guyver was now retreating, apparently realizing he was at a considerable disadvantage even in Gigantic form.

"Where is Rhiannon?" the Supreme Lord of Cronos asked without preamble.

"She fell down to that island," his loyal son replied. "I thought it best to give her time to recover and keep Guyver III away from her."

Alkanphel descended down to the island and found an uncovered cave with a golden female Guyver standing in the middle of it. A human stood at the edge of the cave, staring at him in a mix of awe and fear. He wasn't paying attention to the human, however, his focus was on the new Guyver. The Guyver looked up at him and the Control Medal glowed softly.

"Alkanphel…" the distorted voice of his heiress came from the Guyver. "Lord Alkanphel? Why are you here? Where's Guyver III?"

"He retreated," he answered her last question first. "Is…is that you, Rhiannon?"

"No, I'm an alien that looks like her," she said with much sarcasm. "Yes, it's me. Why are you asking that? Am I covered in some weird stuff or something?" She looked down at herself and gasped. She looked all over herself not believing what she had become. He was ground level with her at this point and he approached her.

"Calm down, Rhia," he said calmly placing his hand on her shoulder. Her armor peeled off and she reverted to her human form so fast that he knew she was about to go into shock. He held her upright and shook her hard. "Breath, Rhia! Breath!"

That snapped her out of it and she started breathing normally.

"Alkanphel…" he voice was barely above a whisper and she refused to make eye contact with him.

"_We'll sort this out, Rhia-chan_," he said in her native Japanese.

"_I'm sorry…_" she replied and he pulled her into a hug not caring that they had an audience.

"Lady Rhiannon?" a boy's voice drew both his and Rhia's attention. It was the human, and he appeared to be worried about Rhia. "Are you alright?" The boy looked like a younger version of Amniculus, only he was dress in a t-shirt and jeans.

"I…I'm not sure…" Rhia told the boy and her gaze went back to the ground. "Thank you for your concern, Scott."

"Rhia, who is he?" asked Alkanphel.

"My rescuer, Scott Eagle," she told him and he remembered Hamilcar reporting that she had been kidnapped by Guyver III. He remembered being unable to pinpoint her exact location until several hours ago.

"Thank you, Scott, for rescuing my heiress," he said to the boy while still holding Rhia.

"Why are you still hugging me?" she asked.

"Because I can, and you needed a hug."

"Alright…" He was surprised; usually this sort of conversation would brighten her mood, yet she was still projecting the darkest mood he had felt from her. He absentmindedly started stroking her hair and she relaxed in his embrace a little.

"Lord Alkanphel, there are two more units here!" Amniculus's voice brought them back to reality.


	25. Chapter 25

"Did we somehow miraculously stumble upon an old Advent ship that disintegrated over time?" Scott wondered aloud, looking at the two still dormant Units. All four of them stood around the Units not wanting to activate them on accident.

"Nah, this cave's too small," said Rhia. "If this was something as old as _that_ then it would be a hell of a lot deeper than this."

"True, but that leaves a more confusing question: how did they get here?" asked Amniculus.

"Native Americans maybe?" Rhia suggested pointing at the cave wall. "There are drawings all over the place, and they're all Native American art. I wouldn't be surprised if a nomad tribe hid these here on their way north or south. They probably sealed up the cave as well to keep other tribes and Europeans out."

"Since you're the expert here, Rhiannon, can you analyze them and see if they can tell us anything?" said Alkanphel. He chuckled at Scott's confused expression when Rhia made her way over to the cave wall. "She took college level classes while she was still in high school, including art history," he explained.

"Oh, okay."

"This is weird," they heard Rhia seconds later.

"What is it?"

"I think we need to get some scientists and archeologists here; these paintings appear to be much older than anything else discovered in this area."

"That's not surprising, considering what happened when settlers came into this area," commented Amniculus as he went over to Rhia's side. "However, what these paintings say _are_ surprising."

"You mind sharing with the rest of the class?" asked Scott, he and the other Zoalord finally getting curious enough to look closely at the paintings too.

"I can't determine which tribe made this, but it looks like a member of the tribe equipped a Unit on accident. The Guyver," she started moving to the right, following the narration, "killed a majority of the tribe before a warrior deactivated it and the Units were hidden here."

"Deactivate?" repeated Alkanphel. "They had a Unit Remover?"

"Apparently so, because the warrior died soon after deactivating the Unit. I am more curious of how they even found them in the first place. From what is shown says that all four objects in question were found together in a different place." She pointed to the first part of the narrative. "See the plants here? They're desert plants. They must have been found in a desert."

"Arizona?" asked Amniculus quietly.

"I would venture to guess so," replied Rhia.

"Why would they hide them all the way here?" asked Alkanphel.

"They probably didn't want anyone else to get it and the same thing happen all over again," said Scott. "This island isn't exactly a tourist attraction either. There's nothing here that attracts attention, and there was nothing here all those centuries ago. I'd be willing to bet good money that this was a blind spot for outsiders. Nothing extraordinary here, so no one will bother to even come and explore the place."

"In any case, we should probably get a team of archeologists down here and find out how old these paintings are," Rhia reminded them. "Also, we need to find that Remover quickly."

"One problem at a time, Rhiannon," Alkanphel gave her a small smile. "Sin, will you see to it that the Remover is found." _And see that Scott is rewarded for rescuing Rhia. _

_ Yes, my Lord._

"Rhia, I need you to come with me, and bring the two Units."

"Yes, Lord Alkanphel."

"And Scott," he addressed the boy. "Thank you again, for all you've done for Rhiannon."

Scott inclined his head toward him unsure how to respond.

* * *

Several seconds later Rhia was following Alkanphel through the sky carrying the two remaining Units.

_Alkanphel, are you sure you do not want me to teleport us both to wherever you want us to go?_ She asked her guardian. _You've already exhausted yourself enough today._

_I appreciate your concern, Rhia,_ said he. _However, you have never been to our destination before except for one time. _

_ One time? _

_ You were just a newly born infant at the time, so you probably don't remember the place. _He left it at that and Rhia had a feeling that he wouldn't say more until they got to where they were going. _I can tell that you are also tired,_ he said after a moment of silence.

_I think my body is adjusting to being bonded to the Guyver. I have to wonder if either of the other hosts felt the same way when they first equipped the armor. _

_ That is probably the case. We'll confirm it when I bond with one of the Units. Just hang in there until we've reached out destination. _

_ I will do my best._

* * *

Scott stared up at the ceiling thinking. The room Cronos temporarily gave him was nice and all, but he couldn't stop thinking about Rhia. It had been hours since she left and he found it difficult to think about anything else. Where was she? Was she alright?

Scott groaned and turned over to his side facing the wall next to his bed now.

_Stay safe, Rhia,_ he silently prayed and drifted off into dreamland.

* * *

It was dark when they finally reached their destination. However, Rhia could see the island as though it were still day time; she could see plant life that had been thought to be extinct for a long time, along with a number of dinosaurs she managed to spot. The island would have sparked her interest were she not so tired to the point of falling asleep once they landed.

They flew to the white, stone temple in the center of the island. Alkanphel landed first and Rhia soon collapsed into his ready arms.

"This is weird," she yawned tiredly. "I've never been this sleepy before."

"I'll take you inside to sleep," said he projecting worry without the need to express his worry verbally. He swept her feet off the ground, situated the two Units to where she could still hold onto them, and carried her inside the temple.

"Whazthiplace?" she slurred.

"It is my home, Sihla," he told her understanding what she had said. After spending an entire year with Rhia allowed Alkanphel to understand the "it's too damn early in the morning" speech.

Rhia didn't appear to have any more questions, or she just didn't have the energy to ask any more, because she immediately fell asleep in his arms after that brief exchange. It concerned him that she was so tired after equipping the Guyver, but he hoped it was just as she had said earlier about her body adjusting to the Guyver and nothing else. The weariness she projected was nothing like the weariness he himself felt when he needed to hibernate, yet it did not ease his worry. He realized then that he had unconsciously held Rhia closer as he continued to walk deeper into the temple.

_I have every right to worry,_ he told himself. _She's my only daughter. I don't want to lose her._


	26. Chapter 26

Sin Rubeo Amniculus stared at what remained of the Unit Remover. The metallic cylinder was dented considerably and didn't react to bioenergy. It was possible that it was broken beyond repair.

He turned to a comm. monitor just as it turned on.

"Greetings, Dr. Barcas," he greeted his old friend.

"Greetings, Sin," the elder replied. "I received the report and the data concerning the Unit Remover. I must admit being shocked that there were three more Units and more so that Rhiannon accidentally equipped one herself."

"I know what you mean. Is there any way to repair the Remover?"

"I would have to physically analyze it, but more than likely I'll have to construct a new Remover. Do you remember what happened to Guyver II and how it was destroyed? There was only a slight scratch on the Control Medal and it was enough for the Unit to malfunction."

"In other words it might be the same situation with the Remover?"

"Indeed. How is Rhiannon? Is she adapting to the armor well?"

"She nearly went into shock when she discovered she had equipped the Unit. I don't think she was all happy to be a Guyver."

"Knowing that child, she probably thought it as a form of betrayal to Alkanphel to be a Guyver." The elder Zoalord sighed and shook his head. "I sometimes wished she acted more like her chronologic age. She is very difficult to predict at times."

"All women are impossible to understand, aren't they?" Sin asked smiling in good humor. Barcas chuckled at that.

"Very true indeed."

"In any case, I shall have the Remover sent to Arizona in the morning."

"Very well. Barcas, out."

The screen went black and Sin was left to his thoughts. Then he remembered something.

_Damn,_ he mentally cursed. _I was going to ask Barcas to see what should be done about Scott Eagle. _Thinking back on the records he managed to find on the boy, he found that it would be rather difficult to reward him. _He'll have to be under Cronos' protection until Zeus' Thunder is disbanded. Undoubtedly Makishima will want to kill him in any way possible. _It would probably help if Eagle was inducted into Cronos as a soldier. The boy's DNA code that the scientists retrieved from him indicated that he could become a Hyper Zoanoid if he wished. Perhaps he could be Rhiannon's bodyguard…_There's an interesting thought. Him becoming her bodyguard after rescuing her. _He would have to consult Alkanphel about the matter. It would prove beneficial in the short term if Rhia were to be protected at all times by a Hyper Zoanoid her age. He would rather not have another Arizona incident like all those months ago when Imakarum Mirabilis was inducted into the Council of Twelve when she was all by herself for just a few moments. It was a possibility that had to be considered.

* * *

Alkanphel walked back into the Sleeping Chamber nearly an hour after he left Rhiannon in there to rest. He had equipped one of the remaining Units and was now starting to feel drowsy just like Rhia had felt earlier.

_It appears her hypothesis was correct,_ he mused approaching the altar he had slept on many times. Rhia was curled up on her side peacefully sleeping on the stone altar and Alkanphel couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sleeping. She was adorable when she was sleeping like that, yet she also appeared vulnerable making him all the more protective of her. He shook his head at that thought. She was safe here on Sihla. There was nothing that could come and harm her here unless their enemies found the forgotten island, which was a very unlikely scenario.

Finally getting to the point where he had to yawn, he decided to sleep next to her on the altar. He didn't care what she would think when she woke up at the moment, and just messing with her like that was an added bonus; it wasn't very often that he got a chance to pull small pranks like this on her. He discovered last year that she didn't like sharing her bed with anyone. Sitting on the side of the altar, he swung his legs over into the resting place and laid on his side facing Rhia. He laid his arm over her abdomen and pulled her close to where his head was now above her head. Hearing her breathing and steady heartbeat, Alkanphel closed his eyes and fell asleep for the rest of the night.

The next morning came and Alkanphel found himself fully rested for the first time in centuries. Rhia was still asleep and had apparently buried herself deeper into their embrace sometime while he slept; her face was now pressed against his chest close to his heart.

_Should I wake her up?_ He thought, thinking about what would happen if he did. He decided against the idea and left her to sleep a little while longer.

* * *

Rhia woke up and was confused for a second. She recognized this type of confusion to be the in-a-hotel-or-new-place kind of confusion, and then she remembered that she had accompanied Alkanphel back to his home island, Sihla.

Sitting up, she began her usual routine of stretching and popping some joints. _Crik-crik-crack_ went her back and shoulders. She made a mental note to not sleep on anything made of stone again unless it was absolutely necessary; she had never been this sore upon waking up. With one last jaw cracking yawn, Rhia got off the stone bed—or whatever it was—and left the chamber.

Wondering through the ancient temple, she felt Alkanphel's conscious brush against her mind and gave her the impression that he wanted to see her. Following his directions, and an occasional tug from her Unit, she found him in a circular chamber with an organic pod in the center; Alkanphel gazed worriedly at the suspended, nude form of Imakarum Mirabilis.

"Good morning, Rhia," he said turning to face her.

"Morning," she replied tiredly. "How is Mirabilis doing?" She noticed his exposed Zoacrystal was whole, yet the young Zoalord remained in a coma.

"His body is healed," Alkanphel turned back to the pod. "However, he doesn't have enough energy to awaken yet."

"Could you not use the Ark to give him energy?"

"Yes, and I'll need your help with that, but for now we need to speak."

"Speak?" she inquired. "Of what?"

"Your parentage," she gave him her full attention at that and he turned again to face her. "It's time for me to put my fears aside and tell you the truth. When I said last night that your first time here was when you were an infant was partially true. However, you were not visiting; this is where you were born, Rhiannon."


	27. Chapter 27

"W-what?" was all that came out of Rhia's mouth.

"You were not born in a hospital in Japan," Alkanphel clarified, "you were born here in this very temple on Sihla." Her gaze went downward, trying to process what he had just told her. She knew he was telling the truth, but her brain was outright refusing to accept what he said.

"Why?" she finally whispered after a moment of absolute silence.

"I didn't want anything to happen to my only daughter."

She looked him in the eye, with widened eyes.

"You were meant to be my replacement if I were to die," he continued. "I…I didn't expect so many bad things to happen to you. I thought I had picked the right family to look after you when I chose your mother to carry and raise my child."

"Is that the reason why you took me in? Just because you were dying?"

"It was part of the reason, but not the entire reason. I wanted to be your father for once in your life, and you _are_ the only person I can truly claim as my blood. I really can't begin to tell you how sorry I am that you had to go through so much sadness in your life."

The look in his eyes told Rhia he was being totally honest with her without the need to read his feelings. She saw sorrow; the kind of sorrow one would see in an abandoned child searching for its parents. She had seen that very same look in most of the children she had befriended on the streets before he had taken her in. She didn't need to feel his emotions to understand the silent plea he was silently giving her. He wanted her to understand and he was afraid she wouldn't believe him. Without thinking, she hugged him and said, "I'm proud to be your daughter, Alkanphel. You're not alone anymore."

He returned the hug, somewhat surprised by the fact that it was now Rhia hugging him instead of vice versa. "Please, don't leave me," his voice was so low she barely heard his plea.

"Nothing can change my loyalty to you, Father," his eyes widened when she called him that. "Even if you were to betray me and hunt me down for the rest of time, I will still be loyal to you. I am not the Uranus, the ones whom abandoned you and left you to die."

"I know, and I love you even more for that. I am proud of you, Rhia, and I'm proud to have you for a daughter and one of my loyal Zoalords."

She hugged him tighter and said, "That's the first time a guy has said 'I love you' to me."

"You know you can hook up with that Scott boy and—," she reached up and pulled some of his hair at a very sensitive spot before he could finish that statement. "Message received, but I still expect grandkids from you in the future."

"Twerp."

"Brat," he chuckled and let go of her allowing her to step back. "It's time to put my fears aside and allow you to take your place among my Council." Her Zoacrystals began to glow and he touched the one in her forehead. Light flooded the room for a moment and Rhia transformed into her Zoalord form.

* * *

All was quiet in Japan, or so it had been earlier to Lord Fred'rich von Purgstall. Had it been Guyver III attacking the city he wouldn't be surprised, but as it was it was Guyver I attacking. At the moment the Zoalord of Lightning flew over the buildings, trying to locate Guyver I. An explosion to his left signaled to him that he had found the boy Guyver.

Without hesitation, he transformed.

* * *

**Riv:** Okay, extreme OOC moment with Alkanphel, and lots of fluff. I promise, the next chapters are gonna have lots of action, blood flying everywhere (maybe a limb or two), and Rhia gets to show off her new found power as both Zoalord and Guyver. So...LET'S GET READY TO RUUUMBLLLLLLLLLEE!

P.S. Reviewers get digital cookies! I would most appreciate your thoughts on this story.


	28. Chapter 28

Rhia felt pain rack her right side and spread through her body suddenly. Her knees buckled and she fell into Alkanphel's strong arms.

"Rhia?" her father asked worry very much apparent in his voice.

"Purgstall's hurt…" she said and was temporarily confused on how she knew her comrade was injured. Fear overcame confusion and Rhia immediately teleported to where she sensed her friend not caring if she unwillingly took a passenger along.

* * *

Sho Fukamachi, the Guyver I, dodged another barrage of lightning from the Zoalord Purgstall. He had knowingly gotten himself in a Cronos trap when he decided to fight the fake Gigantic, but he hadn't counted on a Zoalord coming into play. At the moment, both combatants were limited to the ground. Sho could no longer fly, nor put up a barrier due to being hit by a bolt of lightning when he charged Purgstall. The Zoalord in question, however, received some internal injuries, but was still able to fight. He tried using his High Frequency Swords, and the end result was Purgstall putting up a shield and blasting both blades off.

Now his only option was to break the Zoalord's barrier with his two fists. His first punch didn't do anything to faze the Zoalord, but he kept punching.

"I told you every attempt would be useless," said the Zoalord after the Gigantic's hands were badly injured. "Do you really believe that you could succeed in destroying the shield of a Zoalord with you bare hands?"

"At least with you I have to," replied Sho. "You involved many innocent people in our fight, getting ready for a contemptible trap." He reared back for the final blow. "I MUST DEFEAT YOU WITH MY OWN BARE HANDS!"

The Zoalord was thoroughly shocked when the Guyver's punch went through the shield, broke it, and landed on his crossed arms, breaking the armored layer of his battle form. Purgstall was sent back several feet as a result of the impact, and when he tried to stand he coughed up blood from the worsening internal injury. Of course, Sho didn't know about the injury until then.

"No…Not now…" weakly said the Zoalord of Lightning. "…I will not resign myself to defeat!"

"Give it up Purgstall. You lured me into resorting to despicable means, but you underestimated me! Now your defeat is clear!"

"What?...But…that wasn't my doing…" The Zoalord looked very confused, but his confusion was unnoticed by the Guyver.

"Don't lie to me! You lured me here using those three Hyper Zoanoids disguised as a Gigantic!"

* * *

_What? A Hyper Zoanoid guised as a Gigantic?_ Purgstall's mind raced trying to process what was truly going on. _Does this mean this was all a set up?_ A scream from the Lost Number Aptom, whom he had forgotten in his battle with Guyver I, and the warning he gave the Gigantic was something the Zoalord wasn't prepared for.

"It seems we find you in a difficult situation, Purgstall," a familiar voice behind him said.

"What?" he turned and found three Zoalords, one of which he did not get along well. "Krumeggnic, Jarvil, Kabrahl, why have you come?"

"What kind of question is that?" asked Jarvil. "Do you think you need assistance with defeating the Gigantic from your fellow Lords after that matter at Yokohama?"

"Eh…I guess, but…"

"You have already done your part," Kabrahl said. "Leave it to us now."

"Now listen to me Gigantic," said Krumeggnic. "Now that we have arrived there is no chance of escape for you! Get ready to die!"

Suddenly the Control Medal of the Gigantic started to glow and Guyver I appeared to be struggling with something. After a moment, the Gigantic armor peeled away and Guyver I was back in his normal armor.

"I do not know what you were thinking disengaging your armor," Krumeggnic stated, "but our time has come."

"How shall we eliminate him?" Kabrahl wondered aloud.

Aptom situated himself in front of Guyver I and began whispering something to the teal Guyver.

"Of what are you speaking?" Jarvil said in a mocking tone. "Are you perhaps praying to Buddha?"

Purgstall didn't think that was the case.

"Actually," the Lost Number said and produced bio-missiles from every point of his body, "we were consulting on how the beat the likes of you!"

Aptom launched all the missiles and the other three Zoalords easily erected a barrier. In the midst of the attack, Purgstall saw Guyver I burrow underground while the other Lords were preoccupied with the ongoing attack. Soon it became apparent that the missiles were made up of Aptom's body for the Lost Number had disappeared during the barrage.

_They got away_, Purgstall thought.

Soon Kabrahl came back with the petrified form of Aptom partially reformed.

"I managed to capture Aptom."

"It displeases me, but we did not capture Guyver I," said Krumeggnic.

"No matter, he is of little importance now that we have more attractive bait to lure him."

_Lure him?_ Purgstall began to put two and two together and said without thinking, "Then you would argue that you lured the Guyver using this Hyper Zoanoid disguised as a fake Gigantic?"

The looks from all three of them did not reassure Purgstall at all, and neither did the energy Krumeggnic was building in his now outstretched hand. Before anything else could happen all Zoalords present were distracted by an energy surge announcing the arrival of someone powerful. Next was the light, and then both Alkanphel and a rather incensed Rhiannon appeared.


	29. Chapter 29

Rhiannon was beyond angry. Alkanphel didn't need to read her mind to know what was going to happen next so when she charged Krumeggnic, he got Purgstall out of the way just as she transformed and all hell rained loose.

"Should we call for reinforcements?" asked the wounded Zoalord of Lightning.

"With how pissed she is, I don't think so," said Alkanphel as his daughter barraged the dark skinned Zoalord with many Gravity Bullets. "Now that I think of it: I had best get you back to Cloud Gate before this gets any worse."

"Why?" the younger Zoalord appeared confused until Rhiannon tore off one of Krumeggnic's arms. Alkanphel laid one hand on Purgstall's shoulder and teleported himself and Purgstall to Cloud Gate. After calling for a medic to tend to the injured Zoalord, Alkanphel teleported back to the fight.

Krumeggnic laid dead on the ground with a bloody crater in his head; Rhiannon's work undoubtedly. Jarvil and Kahn were both fighting the young Zoalady and were not holding their own against her.

_Been a while since I have fought but—_"GUYVER!" Once he was clad in his golden Guyver armor he joined in the fight.

* * *

A Pressure Cannon blast that tore Kahn apart in mid transformation alerted Rhia to Alkanphel's contribution to her fight.

Jarvil made one last ditch effort to put up a shield that was broken by Rhia's punch. Not stopping, she dug into his forehead and tore out his Zoacrystal. Without a moment's hesitation, she fired one last Gravity Bullet through him and the traitor joined his companions in death.

"I believe our enemies will think twice now before laying a finger on anyone close to you, Rhiannon," said Alkanphel, now back in his human form. She handed the two Zoacrystals she took from the traitors to him.

"Lord Amniculus is here," said Rhia back in her human form. Alkanphel handed her his cape which she took and wrapped herself in since her uniform was shredded while she was slaughtering the three traitors.

Sin Amniculus soon landed and knelt before them.

"Lord Alkanphel. Lady Rhiannon," he greeted them and spotted the corpses of the three Zoalords.

"Come, we will explain back in Cloud Gate," said the Supreme Lord of Cronos and all three of them teleported to the tower fortress.


	30. Chapter 30

Rhiannon broke off from Alkanphel and Amniculus once they reached Cloud Gate; more than likely going to retrieve clothes from her quarters.

"Is everything alright with her, my Lord?" Amniculus asked when she was out of earshot.

"She and I had a talk earlier today," said Alkanphel as they made their way to the medical section. "I revealed certain things to her; she's still digesting what I told her I think."

"You _think_?"

"I cannot read her emotions at the moment. It is like peering into a lake so deep that the bottom cannot be seen."

"I suspect _you_ are the one who stole some of Lady Rhia's books before the Ark launched? Because I do believe a certain dragon by the name of Saphira said something _very_ similar to that."

Alkanphel chuckled and grinned. "It's a free hobby to mess with her."

"Had I not known better I would have mistaken you two to be brother and sister."

He laughed at that and entered the ward where Purgstall, still in battle form, was recovering from the battle that took place earlier that evening. The nurse tending to the Zoalord in question excused herself immediately.

"Lord Alkanphel," Purgstall inclined his head in respect since he could not get up and bow. "Where is Lady Rhiannon, and what happened to your cape?"

"In order, I'm right here," said Lady Rhiannon whom just entered the room, "and I had to borrow his cape after dealing with a certain trio of jackasses."

Amniculus did a double take when he noticed the new uniform. Her cape was now a royal purple color while her jumpsuit was a mulberry color. She only wore armor on her forearms and on her calves.

"When are you going to stop cursing, Rhia?" asked Purgstall. "It is not becoming of a lady of your status."

"I'll stop cussing when Barcas trims his beard, which is _never_ going to happen." She winked as she gave Alkanphel his cape back. "By the way, has that injury healed yet?"

"No, but how did you know I was injured?"

"It's here, right?" she probed the area where he was injured, ignoring his inquiry and making him wince in pain. "That'll be an easy fix."

"What do you mean 'an easy fix'?"

She placed her hand above the area and Amniculus sensed a surge of energy flowing from Rhia to Purgstall.

"What is she doing?" he asked aloud.

"_This_ is the reason why Makishima abducted her three months ago," Alkanphel explained. "Not only can she heal faster than her Zoalord brethren, she can also heal her comrades." Indeed she could heal other beings; the damaged armor layers on Purgstall's arms were visibly being repaired now.

"This feels very strange," said Purgstall just before Rhia was finished healing him.

The Lady stepped back, almost lost her balance, and Alkanphel stepped forward to balance his heiress.

"Can I get a proper meal now?" she asked in exasperation and all three Zoalords laughed.

"Can you hold on for a few more minutes?" Alkanphel asked and received a glare that answered the question. "Just pulling your leg, Rhiannon-chan. Go on; I'll inform them of what has transpired over the past few months."

With that the young Zoalord left.

* * *

Rhiannon traversed the corridors quietly, feeling a sense of danger. Her senses detected nothing, yet the warning feeling she felt remained.

_Food first; decipher warning signs later,_ she decided and continued to her destination.

* * *

The ward was dead silent save for the machine monitoring Purgstall's—now back in his human form—heart rate and brain waves. Alkanphel knew the two Zoalords had many questions to ask once the shock wore off, and the oldest Zoalord would bet that most of them would be directed towards Rhiannon and how she came to be.

"I always wondered why she looked eerily like you, Lord Alkanphel," said Amniculus breaking the silence. "There was no way the father of Rhiannon would have been anything but a Zoalord for her to look and act so different."

"Why did you not induct her into Cronos sooner? Would she not have been safer than living among the humans?" asked Purgstall.

"You saw the true colors of Krumeggnic, Kahn, and Jarvil this evening; how would I have known if they had done so sooner had I inducted Rhiannon into Cronos and attempted to use her in some way?" the Supreme Commander explained. "I could not rely on anyone in the Council to watch over her, not even Hamilcar who has his hands constantly tied with projects."

"So, you had her raised among the humans believing it to be the lesser of the two evils?"

"Yes, but I did not expect the Maaka clan to be so abusive towards a child. They were abusive to Elizabeth when she was pregnant with Rhiannon, hence my reason for taking her to Sihla so she could give birth safely and give her and the child a chance to recover."

"They physically abused Elizabeth while she was pregnant?" asked an astounded Amniculus.

"Yes," Alkanphel took a moment to quash the anger slowly surfacing from remembering the condition Rhiannon's mother had been in at the time. "They tried very hard to kill Rhiannon while she was still in her mother's womb, but she and her mother survived. However, because of this the child's Zoalord genes kicked in and activated her regeneration powers, and over the years more of her Zoalord DNA activated causing her to have telepathic abilities at a very young age."

"What of her Zoacrystals?" asked Amniculus. "They are unique because her body created them. How is it she was able to create them in the first place?"

"Her condition unto itself is unique; a _very_ rare occurrence. Neither I nor Hamilcar know how her Zoacrystals came to be. She may have created them while she was still in her mother's womb as a means to supply herself with energy in order to heal herself and her mother." Before Amniculus or Purgstall could ask any more questions, Alkanphel said, "If you have any more questions, please ask them tomorrow. It is late, and we should all rest."

* * *

Rhiannon, on her way back to her quarters after a meal consisting of a little of everything on the Food Pyramid, hummed to herself seeing if anyone would know what song it was.

"She is the one named Sailor Moon," a woman scientist sang in time with Rhia's humming. She high-fived the woman and continued on her way still humming the song.


	31. Chapter 31

_Rhia was sitting on the ground, if it was the ground that is. Her surroundings were completely white and there were no shadows anywhere not even where she sat. _

_ "Rhiannon-chan," she heard a voice and her aunt Rebecca appeared. _

_ "Auntie?" asked Rhia. _

_ "Why?" the image of her aunt said. "Why do you think you can even _try_ to make friends? Even when you know you do not deserve such honor?" Blood began to stream from the woman's now black eyes. "Even after you let me die in your arms?" _

_ "Why are you saying these horrible things?" _

_ "Because you know it's true. Scott nearly got killed because of _you_, and everyone else before him that you shared a close friendship with abandoned you. Why do think that is so?" _

_ "Please, stop it…" Rhia was close to crying. "It's not true…" _

_ "You know you do not deserve companionship, nor to be loved. So why do you continue to seek out such things?" _

_ "…Because I don't want to be alone anymore…" she began to sob. "I want it to be different this time…I don't want to be lonely anymore!" _

_ "Heh, he…Look in your arms now…" _

_ She looked; Alkanphel laid unmoving in her arms and her hands were covered in his blood. _

_ "You will always be alone, Rhiannon-chan," her aunt continued. "Everyone you love with either die or abandon you." _

_ "No…no…NO!" _

"Rhia!"

"NOOO! "

"Rhiannon wake up!" someone shook her and she found herself back in her quarters in Cloud Gate. Alkanphel sat next to her with his hands on her shoulders. He pulled her into a hug and began to stroke her hair gently. "It's alright, Rhia-chan."

"Father," she buried her face in his hair and tried to calm herself.

"It was just a bad dream, Rhia. You will _never_ be alone again, you know that."

"I don't want to lose you too…"

"Rhia, like you promised me, I promise that I will never abandon nor betray you. Should I die, it will never be your fault."

She took deep breaths; fighting back the tears that threatened to run lose.

"I haven't had a nightmare like that for a while, huh?" she asked after a quiet moment.

"No, you haven't," he agreed and released her from his embrace. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think I'm okay."

Alkanphel kissed his daughter's forehead and said, "Alright; don't push yourself too hard today." He stood up and teleported out of her room.

It was then that she decided to look at her alarm clock.

"HOLY FLIPPIN' SHIT!" It was noon. _Alkanphel, why didn't you wake me up sooner?_

_ You're the one that forgot to set the alarm,_ was his blunt reply as Rhia hastily got dressed and prepped for the day at record speed.

* * *

"This is a first," commented Rensi. "Lady Rhiannon is late."

The remaining Council had convened again in Cloud Gate to be informed of the attempted treason by three of their own. Everyone, aside Imakarum Mirabilis and Rhiannon, were already seated.

"She woke up late," said Alkanphel. "She should be here in 3…2…1…"

The door flew open and a rather groggy looking Rhiannon entered the meeting room. Her cape was lopped sided, her uniform was wrinkled and bunched in places, and a cow lick completed the rare look.

"Wow, seeing _you_ with a cow lick is certainly a first," teased Waferandos.

"With what I went through the past few months, plus the hectic two days that followed, I believe I deserve a cow lick," said Rhia as she ungracefully dropped into her seat next to Alkanphel. "Which reminds me," she faced Dr. Barcas, "I made sure that Aptom was secured last night. I'm sure you would like to study him later, Doctor."

"Indeed," the elder Zoalord said. "That will be one less thing for us to worry about."

"Now that all of the Council is here," Alkanphel began, "it is high time we addressed the issue of what transpired last night.

"As you may well know by now, three of our own attempted to murder Fred'rich von Purgstall once he caught on their plan to capture Guyver I. Those three were dealt with and their Zoacrystals returned to me. We will search for candidates to replace them soon, and I believe my heiress has one in mind already."

"My Lord," said Rhia, "if you are speaking of my rescuer, Scott Eagle, I would advise against it until he has proven himself loyal to Cronos if he is at all. To add to it, he is my age; he would not be able to command much respect if he looks that young forever."

"Who is this Scott Eagle, Lady Rhiannon?" asked Carleon.

"He's the boy that helped me escape from Zeus' Thunder in North America, which also brings up another issue that needs to be addressed," she looked at Alkanphel. He nodded and she continued, "During my captivity, Zeus' Thunder tortured me and studied my healing abilities to create their own Zoalord. Her name is Griselda," she sent an image of the enemy Zoalord to all of the Council, "also known as Onuma Shizu, the woman that follows Guyver III everywhere. They also have a Zoanoid force called the Libertus, which I did not have the pleasure of fighting them. I fought both Griselda and Guyver III; Griselda isn't much of a threat to us Zoalords on her own, but she could take out a number of Hyper Zoanoids if pitted against them. From what I've gleaned from the minds of my captors, she can heal the Libertus so long as they stay near her. She was also designed to be the leader of the Libertus; their mental shield against the Council of Zoalords."

"With proper planning and an amount of cunning," said Rensi, "we could easily deal with this Griselda and the Libertus."

Alkanphel sensed that a majority of his Zoalord sons and daughter agreed with him.

"We have also seen them in action," Amniculus added, bringing up a video he just received that morning. "Yesterday they attacked the Pillars of Heaven and the Operation Plant in that area."

"I attempted to stop them, but this Griselda prevented me from taking control over the Libertus, just as Lady Rhia said she would," Dr. Barcas added as the video footage began to play. The black and white Libertus tore through Standard and Hyper Zoanoids alike. Nothing could have been done to stop them, and no one could have known what would also happen next. "During this attack, the Dark Gigantic appeared and destroyed one of the towers of the Pillars of Heaven. To add to it, two kilometers of the city was damaged."

"Why would he do this?" asked Waferandos. "He has already gained much detest among the population by kidnapping Lady Rhia; what would he gain through this?"

"A demonstration of power," Alkanphel mused aloud. "He wanted to show the world that there was a force that could oppose us on equal footing and make the human population delusional with the thought that someone could overturn our rule."

"That's why he attacked the Pillars of Heaven instead of the control seat," Hamilcar finished his master's thoughts. "It is a symbol of our power."

The entire Council remained silence after realizing all the damage Guyver III had really done. Alkanphel shifted his gaze to his heiress.

"Rhia?" The rest of the Zoalords looked at her too and discovered that she had passed out some time ago. Alkanphel was about to get up and try to wake her up when her eyes fluttered open.

"Are you alright, Lady Rhia?" asked Purgstall, clearly concerned about the young lady's health.

"I…Did I pass out?" she asked. "I'm sorry."

_Go to the medical section,_ Lord Galenos's request to her was broadcasted to all the Zoalords. _You are clearly not fit to perform your duties._

"I think I'll do that, Tuatha nii-san."

As she left the meeting, Alkanphel wondered as to why she called Tuatha 'big brother'. He recalled that it had been Tuatha that had taught Rhia how to control her telepathy, and he was also her very first friend. He was the first person she met that was like her; too different to fit in with humans. They shared a uniqueness that was not favored by mere humans. Remembering the way they interacted, Alkanphel could conclude that Rhia held a great deal of respect for Tuatha second to himself because of their friendship and understanding of each other.

"Why does she call only you big brother?" asked Waferandos.

_That's a story for another time,_ the silent Zoalord smiled.


	32. Chapter 32

Hamilcar Barcas went over the findings the scientists from the medical section discovered when Lady Rhiannon went in for a checkup. The newest Zoalord appeared to be _very_ malnourished. A month of imprisonment shouldn't have had this effect on a Zoalord; even with the unhealthy meals the young Lady was given. Their bodies were processed to take in great amounts of nutrients and store it until needed and even then only a long drawn out battle or self-negligence could cause a Zoalord to become malnourished.

The elder Zoalord had to wonder if the girl's healing abilities had something to do with this. Alkanphel had informed him that when Rhiannon had used her healing power on Purgstall her energy was considerably drained. Perhaps it was time to look at the child's medical records.

He brought up all of the medical data pertaining to Rhiannon from eleven years ago and went forward. He continued until he came across a series of reports from six years ago where the girl had been hospitalized after a traffic accident. It was listed that she had been very malnourished and very weak after the accident.

_Lord Alkanphel,_ Barcas called out to his lord.

_What is it, Hamilcar?_ Alkanphel responded.

_Did Rhiannon use her healing powers six years ago? _

_ Yes, though she has no recollection of it. Why? Have you found the cause of her problem? _

_ I have a theory. Her medical records from six years ago after a traffic accident state she was malnourished and very weak. Her healing powers may come at a hefty cost to her body in terms of energy and her body trying to compensate for the energy lost. Using her power to heal another being may take more energy from her than healing herself, and her body tries to compensate for it by burning all available nutrients stored in her body. _

_ If that is the case then we will have to make sure that she doesn't use that power unless absolutely necessary,_ Alkanphel sounded troubled by what he had just learned.

_That or she would have to take in a tremendous amount of food after using her power. I will give her multi-vitamins to help her regain some nutrients she needs, but in the future she will have to take in more food than she normally would. _

_ How much would her meals need to be increased? _

_ It would probably be safe to double her meal sizes. _

_ That would be more than any of the other Zoalords eat! _

_ Unless we can keep her from using her power for several years and have her store as much energy as possible, I do not know any alternatives. _

_ Very well, but I doubt she'll like hearing this. _

The connection was cut off and Barcas closed all the files he had opened earlier.

* * *

Elsewhere in Cloud Gate, Rhiannon slept unknowing that her father was sitting next to her petting her hair as she dreamed of whatever she dreamed of.

Alkanphel closed a report pertaining to Zeus' Thunder and sighed. It was just one thing after another for them. First his sleeping curse, then the Guyver incident and Guyot's betrayal, now the severe draw back to Rhia's gift. That's how he saw his daughter's healing power—a gift no other being had been blessed with. It appeared that Rhia could never catch a break; everything she did seemed to have repercussions of some sort or other.

She shifted in her sleep and rolled over to her other side without waking up. Alkanphel continued petting her hair, smiling at the rare peaceful state Rhia was in and regretted that he would have to wake her up from such a state soon. Looking at her alarm clock, he decided that five hours of sleep was plenty for his heiress and decided to wake her up.

"Wake up, Rhiannon-chan," he called her softly.

Her blue eyes fluttered open and she groggily said, "What's up?"

"You've been asleep for five hours; I thought you would like to eat something before the day was over."

"Alright, I'm getting up," she sat up and Alkanphel helped her out of the bed. She had changed into her civilian clothes before she went to sleep, but he didn't mind her attire as he led her out of her quarters to get a meal.


	33. Epilogue

Rhiannon kept sensing that she was being watched as she and her father made their way to the private dining area reserved for the Zoalords.

_What the hell am I sensing?_ She mentally demanded. _I can't even pinpoint who is stalking me! _

_ I wouldn't mind knowing what is going on as well,_ Alkanphel said over their mental link. _You felt something similar last night too. _

She wished she knew what she was feeling exactly. Last night it was a sense of danger, now it was as though someone was stalking her, but she could only sense the Zoaforms and humans going about their business staying away from the two Zoalords. She was on the verge of screaming out of frustration she was so agitated.

That was when Alkanphel pulled her close to him and said, "Calm down, Rhia-chan. We will figure this out."

"I hope so," she replied.

* * *

Undetected to the father and daughter, the being that was observing specifically Rhiannon was just hovering high above Cloud Gate where none could see it.

The being appeared to be a human female with long black hair loosely braided and her lithe body was covered in a black body glove. Silver armor decorated her shoulders, chest, fore arms, and her calves. The female's sapphire eyes were unfocused as she watched Rhiannon through various Zoanoids in the Cronos base.

"Soon, my little one," said the woman. "We will be reunited soon."

* * *

_The end…for now…_


	34. Extra 1

**Riven-del: **Officially, Heiress of Alkanphel is complete, so everything I post to this story after the Epilogue is some extra fluff that didn't make the story. After each extra I'll explain some of what happened and why it got cut. Enjoy!

* * *

**Alone:**

It was raining. The dark, heavy clouds released the rain it had accumulated, as though the heavens were mourning with Rhiannon. The funeral had ended thirty minutes ago, yet the newly orphaned girl remained standing at her mother's grave in the rain not caring that her black kimono would be soaked.

No one from the Maaka clan mourned the passing of Elizabeth, aside her daughter; Honda didn't even show up to his wife's funeral. The only one that was truly mourning the deceased woman was the lonely Rhiannon. The priest and the miko had seen this and allowed the heartbroken child to remain in the cemetery.

_Mother,_ she thought as she dropped to her knees. _I'm alone…I'm alone with no one to love…I'm so alone… _

"You know it ain't good to stay out in the rain," a familiar voice said. Rhia turned and saw the last person she expected to meet here.

"Inazuma, what are you doing here?" her voice was emotionless as the gangly dressed girl walked over to her. "I never thought you would be the type to pay respects to the dead."

"I never took you to be the type to wear a _kimono_," Inazuma teased.

"What do you want?"

"We want you back in our group, Scarlet Dragon."

Rhiannon glared at her for calling her _that_ name. She had been the leader of a gang before she was betrayed and beaten out.

"You've got a _lot_ of guts coming here and asking me that, especially after you betrayed me."

"Our numbers are shrinking; ever since you left more of us are deserting—"

"So I left, eh?" she was now standing at this point. "After you and your followers kicked the crap out of me before I repaid the favor tenfold, you call it 'leaving'?" Inazuma was about to speak when she continued, "You should leave right now if you don't want a recap of last time. Even in a kimono I can still make you fall to your knees."

"I'd like to see you try," the delinquent smirked. In a split second, Rhia stepped forward, jabbed her above the collarbone so fast she couldn't see or block it, and she was on the ground gripping her neck and coughing.

"Never ask me for help again, traitor." She walked away from her former friend. _I will forever be alone in this life._

* * *

Okay, so this takes place just days after Elizabeth Maaka dies. I had origianlly thought of giving Rhia a gang related history where she is betrayed by the very group of girls that she had taken under her wing and protected before she was adopted by Alkanphel. Inazuma was Rhia's right hand, but was the one who led the betrayal.

Inazuma calls Rhia _Scarlet Dragon_ because that was her name in the gang. In the gang, the name _Dragon_ is given to the leader, which had been Rhia. In Kanji, Maaka means "scarlet" or a "blood red color", hence the name _Scarlet Dragon_. Inazuma was never given the title of _Dragon_ due to her betrayal.


End file.
